Butter
Release Date: 26/10/2009
Hudson Mohawke built his musical career on his reputation as an artful turntablist, which might come as no surprise given the sense of augmented reality permeating his latest release on Warp records, Butter. Now, turntablist no more, Glaswegian Hud Mo (Ross Birchard) offers a unique blend of acid-soul-jazz-glitch-funk-electro-hop-step, where no beat is served straight-up. The sterile precision so often offered by electronic instrumentation is absent here; instead we receive broken organic swing rhythms and textures digital, analogue and acoustic all blended together into one satisfying aqua-crunk smoothie.
Schizophrenic sometimes and psychedelic always, this is one dynamic album; and with his distinct style, Mohawke naturally evades convention, making for refreshing if sometimes difficult listening. Mohawke is at his best when he is exploring the limits of this style, though it is also apparent that this album was composed with a careful ear. Acoustic and electronic morsels here are equally subject to whimsical modification and timbral amendments, creating previously unheard audial mechanisms to pique your pleasure. Human vocal sounds are used throughout the album, though most are either synthetically produced or presented in brief samples chipped to bits and used as instruments in their own right. Melody, texture and cadence converge and separate, disorienting the listener all the while placing your perception in a delicately crafted soundscape of intelligent design.
This album falls within the present musical movement bulldozing the boundaries that establish genres through distinct definitions of instrumentation, arrangement and cultural reference. A manifestation of our modern age, this music finds a metaphor in the inherent interconnectedness of information, breaking down our illusion of separation. That being said, this is unlike anything you've ever heard.
8/10
By Raymond Muehlman
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