Latyrx - review

Isn't it fun to step into another universe? I can't think of anything more fun sometimes. In those moments where everything local, everything around you seems mundane. When the streets that you walk home, to or from work or wherever it is you go, seem like they've been walked on a million and one times. You want a holiday, but of course a holiday is out of the question for whatever particular reason, so.... This is one of those records.

Having first of all established that you are someone who can appreciate the subtle nuances of something as avante-garde and also slightly cheesy as this, you will place your headphones on and take a long walk (drive for some of you) around your town with fresh eyes and let these funky beats carry you. You will laugh at the strange sounds and get carried away, forget that people might be looking at you, and move your head to the old-school hip-hop funk that makes up this amazingly psychadelic turntable journey. Yes that's the first time I mentioned the word turntable, and that's because I don't like to think of this as 'a turntable record'. I think of this as a piece of art, and that's just what it is. A piece of very entertaining and eclectic art, jam packed with a sense of funky sound as well as the afforementioned sense of humour. You can't mess with the Anti-Theft Device.

Mix Master Mike seemed to be slightly distancing himself from this record and it's insanity in a recent interview I read of him, but it's my hope, my sincere hope, that he is (even secretly) incredibly proud of this little gem. I do not make it a habit to listen to turntable music that regularly (although growing up around hip-hop, there would always be a few mix-tapes on CD that my older brother had that interested me) indeed the only DJ record I can ever remember checking in as much detail as this was Q-Bert's Camel Bobsled Race, and you may not even know what that is if, like me, you are not amazingly well-grounded in your turntablism history.

My point is that none of that genre-mess matters. These little intergalactic excursions, often only lasting a minute or so before transforming into something else, are truly engaging mixtures of sound, texture and vocals. The album runs almost continuously and is best heard on earphones, and in one sitting. There is no standout track, it's just an enjoyable ride. Ride may not even be the best term, for those out there that like going on 'scary rides' might look upon the moment where you are looped upside down as the highlight... but this just continuously lights up moment after moment of weird scenes, interspersed every now and then with a truly great scratching 'solo' by Mike (the English vocal sample on the brilliant track 'Well Wicked' for example, gets scratched in so many ways that the song can only be described as... satisfying.)

Free music rules the world, this is very free. My final example being the hilarious vocal sample on 'Sektor three' below, which has to be heard to be believed, I'll try to describe it as best as possible.

Insane laughter slowed down
More spaghetti Mr [inaudible]? (slowed down on the turntable)
Man answers laughing with a mouthfull of spaghetti sounding like a horse-human hybrid
More spaghetti Mr? (higher and a little faster this time)
More laughing
More spaghetti Mr?
The most weird laughter I've ever heard. Like a dying, horse blowing bubbles... but somehow incredibly happy.
A very 'preppy' American guy then says, as he swallows: "Fellas, what kind of mushrooms did you put in this sauce?"

'Nuff said.

Y.Misdaq aka Yoshi, 27 Feb 2005