jj

jj no 2 (Sincerely Yours, 07.09)

I have to give it up to bands that can craft a sound so meticulous and textured that it creates its own internal spatiality. I am talking about “Ecstacy” the ambient club-drug banger that samples Lil’ Waynes infectious “Lolipop” just as effortlessly as it covers a line from Will Smith’s “Miami.” The vocals literally float over the slo-mo, pulsing synth line creating a scene with a broad sense of depth of field, the foreground and the background set in relief from each other. Listening to it on expensive headphones is totally addicting; in fact that goes for the whole album. If you were hoping for an ambient version of a Girl Talk album you will be sorely disappointed, if you were looking for the multi-cultural folk of Taken By Trees married with a sugary back beat of borrowed percussion from tropical nations (see: exploited) you came to the right place. Imperialist ambitions are sometimes cloaked in New-Age fetishization o f exotic tones and textures; an appropriation of Caribbean, raggeton and hip-hop on a liquid Balaeric house beat by some hip Swedes can be fodder for this idea. But who cares? This album is way too laid back to try to sell you something, way too cool to be self-aware. “Nothing matters when we’re dancing” right?

Ryan H.

Listen to Ecstasy Here