textura

ALBUMS
Automotive
Benevento/Russo Duo
Benni Hemm Hemm
Caribou
[The] Caseworker
Eric Chenaux
Cineplexx
Claudia
Daedelus
J Dilla
Envy
Fond of Tigers
Formication
Grizzly Bear
Guther
Ike Yard
Kilo Watts
The Knife
Minimum Chips
Miss Violetta Beauregarde
North Valley Sub. Orch.
Quench
Sandoz
Dani Siciliano
Liam Singer
Stop Disco Mafia
Susanna/Magical Orch.
Vorpal
Wisp
Working Nuclear Free City
Peter Wright
Susumu Yokota
Zeebee

COMPILATIONS/MIXES
Belladonna Summer
Cut Copy FabricLive
Mark Farina
Magda
Tandem 4
Tiefschwarz Fabric
Total 7
Until Human Voices...

3"/7"/10"/12"/EPs
Allie
Barem
Deathprod
Ensemble
Extrawelt
Marc Houle
Loco Dice
Lost Trax
David Newlyn
Sandro Perri
Porter & Blain
Relay
Sirka Ragnar
SLG
Swat-Squad

Allie: Living In A Whisper
Koch

It's probably no secret that more music arrives at textura central than can possibly be covered but it's all given at least a listen or two before cuts are made. With its hopelessly cheesy cover shot, Allie's Living in a Whisper EP practically begged to be put into the ‘regrets' pile but damned if the thing didn't render my critical faculties helpless after a day or two. Shamelessly populist electro-pop by singer Allison Kentrick and producers Anton Bass and Mike Rizzo it might be, but it's also aural crack. Don't laugh: your defenses would collapse too once exposed to the cut's blissful house beats and soaring vocals. The real rush, however, comes from the sweeping melodies and the chorus's heavenly vocal counterpoint (credit Kentrick and Jessica Collasante for that). Seven variations might try the patience of even the most indulgent listener but beyond the four chugging mixes the EP includes two urgent club versions (Rizzo's guitar-heavy “M2 Club Mix” and a funkyy “Fonseca Dub”) and an affecting ‘Candlelight' treatment by Josh Harris that couches Allie's heartfelt plaint in an elegant piano-and-strings arrangement. Winsome melancholy never sounded so glorious.

September 2006