tUnE-YaRdS - w h o k i l l

Who the hell IS this Woman? I really enjoyed bits of her last record and was especially impressed by the accompanying DVD which gave the general public a revealing glimpse into her innovative recording, looping & layering techniques. Accompanied by just one fellow equipment manipulator she sculpted an astonishingly vibrant sound-world from old junk shop equipment, curious musical ephemera & effects pedals. I thought she could quite easily be Micachu's even madder Auntie. On this new one she's still being hugely creative with some thrilling, chunky percussive breaks serving as a backdrop for what sounds like a right old jungle of technicolour skewed pop & eccentric world music. Like other respected female sound collagists such as Leila & Solex, she makes densely layered tunes full of fascinating spiraling, cascading samples & colliding, chattering loops. She don't really "do digital", thank God!! It all sounds really warm & organic as she's one for sampling herself playing live and then building the songs around these loops, triggering off magical effects at will. Her voice can get a bit hectic at times, like she's bellowing from the main stage at Womad (I involuntarily cringe at her big soul Mama schtick on some of these songs, like a lady version of the chap from Little Barrie or summat but with a greater vocal range. I must admit she has a right set of lungs on her, bless!!) So this is a "cleaner" sounding effort than the last but no less interesting or lovingly constructed. Respect must be leveled at Nate Brenner, her new bass player & co-songwriter. His down-at-heel chatty playing provides a solid, gently funky backbone for these songs to excitedly dance around. The first truly satisfying record i've heard on 4AD for some time, she'd get a 5 if she toned down that yelling a tad.....