Butter

7歳でジャングル&レイヴの洗礼を受け、14歳という若さでターンテーブルの世界大会:DMCとITFで史上最年少チャンピオンに輝くなど、驚くべき実力と才能を兼ね備えたグラスゴー発、要注目ビート・ジャンキーによるファースト・アルバム。捻りの効いた巧みなポップメロディ・センス/ビートメイキングの突出したセンスを余す事なく聴かせてくれる。サーラーやマッドリブ等と並ぶ数少ない独自のスタイルを貫くプロデューサーでありながらも、エイフェックス・ツインがエレクトロニック・ミュージックの枠を飛び越えて全音楽リスナーに届いたように、全ての音楽ファンを感動させる可能性を秘めた『次世代ビート・クリエイター』だ!クラーク、フライング・ロータスに続く、WARPの未来を担う超大注目新人登場!!

CMJ - "Via his hyper-melodic, multicolored beats Hudson Mohawke emanates a sound that pays homage to those before him, but also hops, skips and jumps into the future." Q (Magazine) (p.107) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] brilliantly inventive collision of '80s golden-era hip hop, Aphex Twin-style beats and pop melodies that wouldn't be out of place on an OutKast record." Clash (Magazine) - "Continually shifting between styles, using various eras as points of reference the album is capable of producing some startling moments."

The artwork's liable to convert any room in which it is viewed into a makeshift vomitorium, and the music -- from a Glaswegian producer possibly named after connected New York rivers, albeit with a vowel thrown in for search-proofing -- is absolutely "acquired taste" territory. Sometimes needlessly complex and, at its worst, goofy for the sake of being goofy -- proper boots-in-a-dryer bizniz with shrill flotsam swirling about -- these tracks can be as off-putting as they are exhilarating. A fearless scrap heap mutation that incorporates icebox IDM crunch, DayGlo synthesizer funk and, most notably, late-'80s/early-'90s R&B flourishes -- exemplified by "Just Decided"'s synthetic horns and "Twistclip Loop"'s keyboard sprites -- the album is nonetheless deeply affecting in stretches. Its best sequence, near the end, begins with "Tell Me What You Want from Me," where Art of Noise-level grandeur combines with a taut titanium-strength beat worthy of Swizz Beats, tailor-made for its open-hearted Dam-Funk vocal. "FUSE" follows, bearing a disarmingly uplifting synthesizer patterns of drawn-out notes over rattling percussion and a strangely enhancing wordless vocal sample. "Star Crackout"'s spectral opera is the come down, which melts into "Allhot," where blunt kick drums and chintzy snares are an unlikely match for female vocalist Nadsroic's sighing advances. The album's first half isn't short on moving moments, either. It's highlighted by "Joy Fantastic" -- nothing if not a modern funk slammer, quite possibly potent enough to turn Andre 3000 and Cee-Lo Green er, well, green. ~ Andy Kellman

〈ヒップホップ界のエイフェックス・ツイン〉と評されるグラスゴー出身の天才ビート・ジャンキー、ハドソン・モホークがアルバム・デビュー!　今年の2月に出た限定EPも衝撃だったが、今回はそれをさらに上回る内容で、ド派手なシンセ・フレーズとカットアップの連続をポップに編集する才能が爆発している。極限まで振り切れたアウトキャスト!?　いや、メインストリームを遠く離れた外野から生まれた奇跡の産物!
bounce (C)池田謙司