DJ Olive: Heaps As, Live in Tasmania
the Agriculture

Not all mixes need be Dionysian hell-ravers, a case in point Heaps As, Live in Tasmania by 'audio janitor' DJ Olive (Gregor Asch). As perfect an exemplar of the Agriculture's 'Roof Music' sound as qpe's recent Gentrifried, Asch's fluid, hour-long set was recorded during two 2005 live shows in Hobart, Tasmania and Perth, Western Australia. Tailor-made for a lazy Sunday afternoon, the downtempo mix wends a scenic route through propulsive dub (“Bin Raider”), dancehall (“Lila Dog”), soul-jazz, funk, Latin (“Dancing With Poxy Stingers”), salsa (“They Make Us All Want to Hate Each Other Don't Do It!”) and hip-hop—often all at once (“Heaps As”). The vibe's sensual and deliciously faded, with DJ Olive largely reigning in extreme dynamic contrasts and animating all of it with driving dub bass lines. Throughout the disc's sixteen cuts, Asch's 'world' approach seamlessly blends Brooklyn, Jamaica, and Africa into a soothing aural Esperanto of grooving body music and warm beats.

March 2006