Customer Reviews

Who Stole the I Walkman

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This album has been maligned by many for being less focused than earlier Isotope efforts and for not offering more specific clues regarding the ongoing fusion of jazz and electronica. True, it is a more shapeless affair with a decidedly schizophrenic agenda, but it is these aspects which establish the album's unique merits. "Who Stole.." is essentially an uncharismatic index of musical possibilities, drifting in and out of locked grooves and avant-jazz motifs and overlaying them with an eclectic selection of organically generated cut-and-paste interludes. It provides a more subtle challenge to pervading ideas about stylistic juxtaposition, less concerned with the shock and entertainment potential inherent in such an exercise and more confident that its wide-ranging forays and contrasts will achieve lasting appeal. Don't expect any answers, only intrigueing questions.

Isotope 217's first release, "The Unstable Molecule," is a definitive staple in post-rock annals. The follow-up, "Utonian_Automatic," lacked the smoothness of the debut, but what it lacked in that area it made up for in terms up improvisational spirit. This newest release from 217 sounds like they are experimenting more, but the overall aesthetic is less finished, more like a batch of random ideas and experiments and less like a complete work of art. There are more electronic gadgets and effects floating throughout the mix, which further widens the ever increasing gap between 217 and Tortoise comparisons. The only real clunker is the tenth track ("<<") which is anything but abstract; it consists of Damon Locks doing crowd shoutouts over a booty 808 beat. The rest of the album is less what you would expect, although those familiar with the Designer/Commander EP release from last year some of the more manipulated moments might not come as a surprise. While the album seems like an attempt to capture the improvisational flare of the group's live performances, it lacks the finesse or impact of previous releases. It's not a bad album by any means, but falls short only in comparison to their great previous releases. Check those out first, and then if you're wanting more, come back here.

So the last two albums have most certainly been jazz - another level of jazz, but still jazz. But what is this that we have here? We have all the elements of jazz -- thrown in with all the usual elements that the boys and girls and whatevers have been known to throw in, but this time what comes out is an insane abstraction into the world of sound art. Perhaps its most concrete moment is in one of the greatest abstractions of all, the rewind song, <<. I recommend buying this just to see what its all about, but get their other albums first.