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

Kilo Watts: Routes
Artificial Music Machine

KiloWatts undertakes a more than credible foray into Warp-styled IDM on Routes , an 18-track travelogue by Philadelphia-based Jamie Watts. Packaging the material in such a thematic manner proves a wise move as it gives what might have seemed a disparate collection a cohesive feel. Sequencing and song titles reinforce the travelogue concept (“Cross Country,” “Trans-Atlantic,” “Eastward”) while footsteps, announcers' voices, and subtle traces of subways, buses, highways, and trains in field-heavy interludes (“Market-Frankford Line,” “I-95,” “Chinatown Bus”) establish convincing evocations of locale.

Watts keeps things fresh by exploiting contrasts of mood and style throughout, ensuring that for every uptempo piece, a downtempo one follows. “Subway” barrels forth with a pulsating urgency and “Safety In Numbers” slams and sputters in a punchy electro-dub-funk style; conversely, soul-jazz melodies grease the laconic shuffle of “An Explanation” while “Eastward” unfurls in a dramatic piano-laden lope. “Glob Story” conjures a disorientating ambiance, with the traveler perhaps adrift in an unfamiliar city and besieged by an over-abundance of stimuli, while “Trans-Atlantic” drifts into reverie when not lurching heavily forward. Similarly, a propulsive Plaid-like intertwine of snarling synth melodies produces a whirring maelstrom in “Palo Duro,” in contrast to “Theologue (Settle)” where softly glimmering melodies and melancholy piano playing bring the trip to a peaceful end. Though not stylistically innovative, Routes compensates for its lack of musical originality with the thoroughness of its thematic conception and the technical polish of its execution.

September 2006