Bidnezz

It should come as no surprise that video games came to outsell albums in the media markets across the world. Put on an album, most people still feel the need to "do" something. Pop in a game, and you have hours if not days or weeks of totally immersive entertainment. It should also come as no surprise then that video game music has become the new pop music. When the Los Angeles Symphony does an entire concert of video game music to celebrate the Fourth of July, you know somewhere Francis Scott Key is distraught. But this is not a tirade against the sounds of gaming gone glam. Not when Ilkae Bovine take the 16-bit process of sound to more imaginative levels. This CD is a remix collection of this Canadian/Polish duo's work, although it's near impossible to tell which specific work, since each track is simply titled after its remixer (the track remixed by Machine Drum is titled "Machine Drum," get it?). The results range from the glitched ("Isan"), to orchestral ("Deadelus"), to funky breaks ("Setzer"), but one consistency is an overtly simplistic approach to melody that surfaces in near every cut, regardless of the deconstruction method utilized. And it's these melodies that reveal the probable gamer in not only Ilkae, but all of the remixers and, dare it be said, most everyone who makes electronic music, plus the other millions of young people who don't. Yes, it's that ubiquitous. ~ Joshua Glazer

〈エレクトロニカ meets ヒップホップ〉というデジタル・ミュージックの一つの基準を提示したトラヴィス・スチュワートによるユニット、マシン・ドラム。その3作目が、マイアミの良質エレクトロニカ・レーベル、マークより登場。デビュー時の破壊力はやや鳴りを潜めたものの、その挑戦的姿勢はあくまで前のめり。別名義であるシンドローンで見せた細やかな変則ビートとメロウネスを積極的に採り入れつつも、あくまでヒップホップをベースにしたそのスタイルはまったくもって唯我独尊。アンビエンスな上モノの美しさ（＝泣き）も過去最高のものとなり、生き物のように動きまわるノイジーなビートは新たな柔軟性を獲得。切り刻まれて貼り付けられた、めくるめく音の乱射がカラフルにはじけ飛ぶ。オウテカやアクフェン、プレフューズ73の諸作品ともタメを張る、強靱な一枚がここに誕生。
bounce (C)久保 正樹