Customer Reviews

Shallow & Profound

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Every art form loves a wunderkind -- especially if they are truly great at what they do. Which makes me wonder why Hungarian Yonderboi is such an obscure artist, with his blend of Eastern-European folk with downtempo, rock and some trippy beats. His rare debut, "Shallow And Profound," is anything but shallow.

It opens with a crackly clip of trumpets playing, followed by a sultry horn solo. "Yonderboi," a voice intones, repeating it over a bed of drumbeats and spinning vinyl.

It kind of sounds like a hip-hop/turntablist's intro at first. But the music is anything but hip-hoppish -- instead, it's warm, complex, sensual and languorous. "Milonga del Mar" is a trippy little piano/drums song, full of sunlight and summer rain, while "Chase and Chaser" is a taut, shimmering pop song led by organ and horns.

After an accordion interlude, the album launches back into sepia-toned dance music, sensual lounge, airy electronica, delicate soundscapes, shimmering trip-hop that never quite trips, and even funky organ numbers complete with kazoo. Yonderboi even makes a foray into straight-out turntabling with the scratchy, wild "Body Surf." And there's an additional EP, which is a pretty accompaniment but not much more.

"Shallow and Profound" is one of those rare albums that is completely packed with beautiful, memorable songs. Not one is boring, and not one breaks out of the sensual, shimmering mood. Watever the style, it all sort of blends together into one long daydream.

And it's a sign of how versatile this guy is that he can do all kinds of musical styles. He dabbles in funk, twinkly electronica, trip-folk, downtempo, nu-jazz, lounge, and even a bit of rock'n'roll, and meshes all of these styles into different combos. The results can be anything from dancey to dreamlike, but they all share a sensual, sunny sound.

To make this music, Yonderboi throws in every downtempo instrument he can find, and the kitchen sink -- from xylophone to mellotron, horns to violin, accordion to slow drums. I think I heard a foghorn sample in there. And yes, vinyl-scratching. Occasionally we hear a bit of singing, but not much except for "Pabada... dabum!" repeated by a girl.

"Shallow and Profound" is not shallow, but it is profound -- a sensual, exquisite trip through a trip-folk dreamland. Absolutely stunning.

From the label that can (almost) do no wrong comes one of its best releases ever. Shallow & Profound is a remarkable album, mixing jazz, ambient and downtempo with a Eastern European tang. The second disc of the limited edition features longer, live versions of the original songs, but I think the originals stand up much better. My favorites tracks: "Milonga Del Mar" and "Pabadam." Classy all the way.