Daedelus: Live at Low End Theory
Alpha Pup

LA producer Daedelus (Alfred Weisberg-Roberts) brings his plunderphonic skills to his first live recording. Laid down at LA's weekly soundclash Low End Theory in July 2007, the renowned eccentric uses his custom-built Monome to trigger tracks throughout the galloping set. Listeners familiar with his previous output (five full-lengths including 2004's Of Snowdonia, 2005's Exquisite Corpse, and 2006's Denies The Days Demise) will already know how singularly Daedelus mashes outlandish samples from decades past with hip-hop beats and audacious electronic madness. This time out, Weisberg-Roberts careens through fifteen uninterrupted tracks that were subsequently mixed and mastered by club resident Daddy Kev.

The set opens with a madcap twist on Screamin' Jay Hawkins “I Put a Spell On You” with Chipmunk squeals and growls doing battle, and from then on out the pace heats up and never stops. “Cast A Wish” roars frenetically, with handclaps and count-outs propelling the groove to a near out-of-control limit. Everything that follows is trademark Daedelus: “Samba Grandly” is as much steaming samba as goosestep, “Ready The End” couples an MC's verbal somersaults with hornet synth swarms, “Play It Again” provides a sing-song piano interlude, soupy strings swoop over hyperactive beats in “Arouse Suspicion,” and loopy synth melodies tangle themselves into knots in “Shake Vigorously.” “Hope For The Best” sends the customer home satisfied with a bucolic outro of acoustic guitar picking and flute melodies. “Shake Vigorously” indeed.

March 2008