The Rubber Room column is a weekly look at recent and notable releases that don’t fall into the rubric of traditional reviews or reviewed material—namely 7”’s, 12”’s, 3” CDs, EPs, cassette-only, DVDs and MP3-only releases.

Cetacea
Cetacea EP
[Self-Released, 2005]

Start with the band name and album cover and you can guess exactly what this EP sounds like. It's arty, earnest, and British (though it's from Brooklyn). The obvious touchstone is mid-era Radiohead, but any keening, prog-lite act will do. "Warships on the Moon" has some nice military drumming, but that's about the only time I paid attention to this album without wondering when the singer Todd Michaelsen was going to relax. Music for those who are enthralled by the vastness of the ocean and the beauty of the music Elbow made in junior high.
[Justin Cober-Lake]

DaKAH Hip Hop Orchestra
The Missing 12 Inch
[Scion, 2005]

I should hate it. It's on Scion, which is a part of Toyota Motor Sales. It's a symphony playing hip-hop! And yet...it's soooo good. The group contains over 60 musicians, and Gangstarr's Guru shows up to rap about his jazz heroes on "Jazz Thing." He allies closely with the group (opening track "The Gangstarr Variations" features orchestral versions of exactly what you'd think). Despite the violins and cellos and all that good stuff, you won't find any classical stuffiness here. Ranging from jazz breakdown to hip hop show to conservatory precision, the music hits hard. Only problem: trying to find more of this stuff.
[Justin Cober-Lake]

Kiss Me Deadly
Amoureux Cosmiques EP
[Alien8, 2005]

Currently available only as a tour-only EP (KMD opened for Bloc Party this summer), Amoreux Cosmiques provides four drolly-tilted tracks to hint at what's to come (or at what you just saw, if you scooped up tickets to BP's sold-out shows). "Dance 4," "Dance 1," "Pop," and "Groove" describe themselves adequately, but behind the smirky names lie fun dance-pop. Guitars drive the music, but always stay light and open. If much of the retro-scene of late has relied on sweat, darkness, and strobe lights, KMD brings the perfume, sun, and virgin daquiris, carving out their own pleasing niche.
[Justin Cober-Lake]



[a weekly look into the world of electronic musics]

Contexterrior

“Contexterrior is a label geared at bringing sub bass, click, and glitch heavy music to your bedroom and the dancefloor.” So says their website. But things have a way of mutating and evolving into forms that you’d never imagine when you begin them. With its latest releases, Contexterrior has shown itself to be a label interested in a new brand of psych-house—the type of music that Ricardo Villalobos explored intensely on last year’s Thé Au Harem D’archimède.

Ricardo vs. Jay
Prefer Summer
[Contexterrior, 2004]

The title track of this 12” illustrates what I’m talking about perfectly. At 12 minutes long, it takes one watery synth theme for its length and then puts a whole host of garnishing around it. The beat is rubbery and hardly a stomper, but it provides just enough backbone for the whole thing to stand steady enough to keep everything on the table. It’s hardly going to knock over dancefloors, but it’s intense home-listening. The dancefloor is taken care of on the other side of the vinyl: “Cactus Love” is an awkward jaunt, until halfway through when it finds its footing and starts to really hum. Literally. “Archive” on the other hand revives the rubbery for an almost goofy sounding tune that puts its faith in reverb.

Ricardo vs. Jay
Fenlow
[Contexterrior, 2004]

Sessions must’ve gone well, as this 12” followed up “Prefer Summer” immediately in 2004 in the Contexterrior catalogue. The words printed on the B-side of the vinyl here are “Mother Earth Is Pregnant - Feed Her Some Funk” and it probably illustrates the difference in the two works best: “Fenlow” is a far more substantial piece of dancefloor material than “Prefer Summer.” Here, the track rides a riveting beat as coiling glitches and effects work themselves out over its 12-minute length. “Kick the Verb” is a heady surprise from the two, it being a relatively straightforward banger that delivers on the promise of their collaboration fully and unexpectedly. “It’s Alright” similarly rocks a more obvious beat and is all the better for it. Definitely recommended.

Jay Haze vs. Robag Wruhme
Socrates Rules
[Contexterrior, 2005]

On the label’s first release of 2005, Jay is collaborating again, but this time with Wighnomy Brother Gabor Schablitzki. “Change Is Natural” leads off the proceedings with a suitably Wighnomy-esque slow-burner that seethes along its length, until a slight crescendo in its second half. The track, along with the rest of the 12” go straight for the label’s insistence on love of bass and revel in it. And while “Do Something” and “Change” are worse for the wear because of the adherence to dub, “Don’t Stop” is another highlight that wouldn’t be anywhere without its bass bona fides. That and the cut-up vocals and rolling toms that inch the whole thing forward without break.

Pheek vs. Vivianne Project
Untitled
[Contexterrior, 2005]

The label’s latest 12” isn’t necessarily a vs. proposition, as the title states: Pheek singularly provides the first three tracks here, while new on the scene Vivianne Project finishes it off with “Der Frau.” Pheek’s contributions here are typically deep, typically accomplished, and typically boring. While it’s obvious that he’s a talented producer and deserves to be here, it’s hard to heartily recommend anything here because it hardly anything excites or surprises. Vivianne Project is another story: “Der Frau” makes you jack, rather than sway or nod; makes you gasp, rather than acknowledge or appreciate; makes you want to seek out more, rather than accept it for what it is. Considering this is coming from someone that only has one other 12” to their credit (on Contexterrior affiliate, Textone), the future is looking bright for Vivianne Project.
[Todd Burns]