Articles
The Fun Years
Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia
James Blackshaw
Lullatone

Albums
@c
Antenne
Antripodean Collective
Rudi Arapahoe
Black Gold 360
Brael / Tokyo Bloodworm
Richard Chartier
Jack Dangers
Rae Davis
Depth Affect
Taylor Deupree
Engine7
Emanuele Errante
Force of Nature
Gel-Sol
Glissando
Hardfloor
He Can Jog
Hulk
Adam Hurst
Kenny Larkin
Loco Dice
Mad EP
Maju
Marc + Hillage
Izumi Misawa
Nico Muhly
Toshimaru Nakamura
Organum
Maja S.K. Ratkje
Nicola Ratti
Recue
Renfro
Sawako
Seawalker
Raoul Sinier
Spyweirdos et al.
Svartbag
Tape
John Tejada
Tietchens + Chartier
Transitional

Compilations / Mixes
Ai022LP
Buzzin' Fly 5 Golden Years
Cielo-Cinco
Deconstructive Music
Om: Miami 2008
Sounds of Om Vol. 6
Traum 100
Underscan Now

EPs
Claro Intelecto
Funckarma
Tanaka Hideyuki
Jona
Alton Miller
Move D
saidsound
Sebastian San
Scott vs. Vaz
Philip Sherburne
Vakula

Force of Nature: III
Mule Musiq

Hip-hop artists and DJs KZA and DJ Kent show themselves to be a very legitimate Force of Nature on their third album. Already released in Japan in 2006, III ventures beyond hip-hop into progressive house, techno, electro, and dub, and much of it's superb, from clubby house jams like the piano-laden stormer “I-Ight” to funk-house party cuts like “To the Brain.” The group's distinctive sound asserts itself immediately in the opener “Axiomatie” where Asian string samples rub shoulders with a dirty bass-burning groove, and the good times keep rolling in the fifteen swinging samplings that follow. Force of Nature sounds just as convincing when tackling the fiery guitar-driven “Straight Ahead” and jazzy, Rhodes-and-congas-heavy roar of “Bring It,” and when KZA and DJ Kent strike out for more exotic territory (e.g., “Traderoute” and its tasty flute hook), they make sure to ground the material with a deliciously swinging groove. A moaning choir casts its breath upon the locomotive electro of “Sequencer” while “Transmute” infuses its epic, “Metropolis”-like keyboard theme with subtle hip-hop flavour. Though the two “bonus” tracks that close the album could just as easily have been omitted, III still impresses as a remarkably well-crafted collection with KZA and DJ Kent loading their arrangements with rich detail that's not so ample the tracks become burdensome and bloated.

July 2008