Tommy

experimental/noise/beats/shades of R&B

Third record by London noise prodigy Klein, and her first for Hyperdub. One of the more experimental things they've put out, and probably Klein's strangest record yet. Like Mount Kimbie, R&B of the last 25 years is a significant influence on the textures, but where MK refracted it into glitchy off-kilter dance music, Klein cooks it down into straight-up whirlpools and clouds of experimental noise music. Dense and claustrophobic and vulnerable, but with rays of light, and enough awareness and sly humor to keep from being too self-serious.

RIYL: Yves Tumor, Madlib

FCCs: 4, 8

favorites: 6, 7, 3, 2, 1, any

1. a couple bursts of R&B cover vox and studio banter looped and chopped up with tumbling piano fragments, then vox stretch out a bit, then whirlpools of white noise and low vocal drone. bouncy watery piano and a bit of buried rap right at the end. those opening moments are the most direct R&B allusion, then it's all more subtle. 5:22
2. glitchy rolling piano loops, very slowly emerging wordless vox with R&B/soul inflections. all very foggy/hazy, pleasant, dusky. 2:55
3. pitched up helium vocal fragments a la old kanye or just blaze hooks, shifting, looped up with slightly dissonant echoed piano. slowly starts pitching things down and getting sparser, ebbs and flows with momentary breaks but also busier swelling parts and continuous piano. 3:44
4. FCCs (many) halting dark high piano tones give way to distant sampled chatter, then steady foreboding piano loop and pitched down string plucks and static. chatter becomes louder, sounds like couple arguing, hard to make out much except man cursing. then audience applause and abrupt end. prob ok for safe harbor. 1:48
5. fragmented loops of high pitched female vox and tumbling drum machines dance back and forth, first thumpy kicks of the album, dissolves into vapor. 0:55
6. watery plucked acoustic guitar looped and slowly layered over itself, layers shift, halting crunchy drum machine loops enter, murmurs way buried at the beginning slowly emerge a bit more but stay unintelligible and in the distance. layers accrete and things slowly become fuller till it's a bit overwhelming, then guitar and vox evaporate and drums come to the fore and then slowly fizzle out to fog too. 3:00
7. low synth pad swell loops, vocal shivers ebb and flow, synth strings swoop in occasionally. more vocals weave in, both harsher and gentler, stuttery drum fragments slowly teased in, trade back and forth with new rhythmic piano loop, then both stick around and build up to a somewhat more regular beat for just a bit. then new bass tones, and drums leave, piano brings it home. 3:27
8. FCCs (many) hiccuping staticy textures, like wordless vox vocodored to keys and static and then all chopped up. little clicky glitchy edges between fragments. a bit of rhythmic regularity emerges for part of the second half, and vocal washes come to the fore a bit. reprise of argument from track 4? both sides clearly cursing this time, but chopped up such that little is intelligible besides the name calling. 3:31