blockhead - downtown science
second album from this resident new yorker, who continues to mine the same deep sonic mine that he started with 'music by cavelight' but uses his hometown city as a basis for some form of thematic structure across the albums 50 or so minutes. subsequently, things are slightly different this time around, yes there are the same brooding dj shadow styles (especially on the album opener 'expiration date' with its lou rawls type of vocal sample), there are the same steady hip hop beats, and the same late night moods, but for this set of tracks, the music seems a lot heavier, the beats are larger, and the production much more muscular and intense. 'downtown science' doesn't blend into the background like so much of this instrumental hip hop type of funk can often do, it leaps out and demands to be adhered to. admittedly, this is still instrumental music, so with the volume turned down it can be used as that perfect scene setter, just that the choice samples and loops have a darker edge that i found missing with the first album. there are still appearances of the sped up vocals (the end section of 'stop motion traffic'), but, thankfully, these are nowhere near as dominant as before, meaning that the possible annoyance factor is kept at bay easily.
i suspect that blockhead (aka tony simon), has taken on board his recent production experiences with the emotionally intense cage from def jux, and applied a certain more urban grit to his own creations, and, in doing so, has created an album that has much more staying power than the delicate (but nonetheless still beautiful) predecessor.
over the course of the 12 tracks, there are the expected horn section samples, smoky jazz piano motifs, big jazz drum loops, excellent hammond organ riff ('crashing down') and even the odd rock guitar noise ('cherry picker'), set against all manner of found vocal samples, some of which sound to have come from another dimension in time and space, or possible some very old movies. highlights include the deep down and funky sample driven cut-n-paste groove of 'the art of walking' which would make steinski proud of his sonic offspring, the doom laden rock of 'stop motion traffic', and the fascinating clash of industrial guitar noise with worldly-wise flutes on the excellently titled 'good block bad block', proving just how blockhead has progressed with his studio experiments.
oh, and for the value mongers amongst you, the cd comes packaged with a full length dvd which provides a whole array of alternative visuals to watch 'music by cavelight' by (including various promos that won ninjatune competitions), but it should be noted, i definitely know which of the 2 discs will be getting my undivided attention the most.