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Following up a superb three track sampler, Ubiquity drops the full length HVW8 compilation. A look at the names alone, a roll call of hot up and comers and cutting edge vets, shows the LA-based art squad is serious. In addition to...
expand review standout tracks from Plantlife ("Your Love") and John Arnold ("Rise Up"), the double album (one CD) set has contributions from Seiji ("Bruqwah"), Osunlade ("Tambores te Llaman") and Yam Who? ("Wrap You Up"). Ubiquity signees Ohmega Watts ("Long Ago") and Radio City ("The Hop," bouncy indeed) fill out the rest of the wax admirably, along with help from our homeboys Rich Medina and DJ Language. 13 tracks total. -Monk
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I know you've probably heard the comparisons – how Nino Moschella is "the new Stevie Wonder" – and I know you're looking at that cover and thinking it looks like the lost solo album from one of the members of Deee-Lite, but...
expand review don't hold either of those things against the man. (Okay, maybe the cover.) He can't help it if he's a funky white boy! And while I guess Stevie is within a 20 foot radius as reference points go, a lot of this sounds more like a stripped-down Prince or straight-up current electro-fonk – which is to say it ain't bad at all. "Are You For Real(1)," "Inside Yourself(2)" and "Strong Man(3)" are winners. Ditto for the wah-wah spatter of "If You Believe(4)" and Motown-tinged vocal performance on the soft album closer "Holding On(5)." Now let's all hold hands and do trust falls! -Chris Lemon-Red
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Peder is better known as a member of The Prunes - producers/remixers for The Roots, Beastie Boys, DJ Krush and many others - but And He Just Pointed To The Sky is a different kind of album. It was conceived after Peder...
expand review read an interview with Rick Rubin, who said that producers that use their computers to make music tend to become visual musicians, composing according to what looks right as opposed to what sounds right. This album certainly sounds right, full of analog crackles and static, emitting a generally gothic vibe that couldn't possibly have come from 0's and 1's. When I first read on the back of the promo that this album was "for fans of Joanna Newsom, Tom Waits, Amon Tobin and Susanna & The Magic Orchestra," I was a bit skeptical. Lo and behold, all of those influences can be easily heard in Peder's music - and it's good! This is the kind of album you listen to from front-to-back, but if you need to sample some audio first, go for "Timetakesthetimetimetakes(1)," 'Klart(2)," the Air-esque "Ploy Sexy(3)," "The Sour(4)" or the Nino Moschella-featuring "Would You(5)." -Chris Lemon-Red
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