Labelling things is almost irresistible. It allows for easy shorthand,
reference to the familiar, filing away, and all those other things that
allow us to get on to the really important stuff. So when you have to
stop, and think, and scratch your head (or some other body part) and try to
come up with a label for something and then realize you really can't, then
you stop and think about the process of labeling and what it all means. And
then the realization comes - maybe this is the really important stuff.
Rarely does an album come along that pushes into these unfamiliar places,
rarer still is that the case with one that's also fun to listen to. So
hats off to Lorin Ashton, the driving force behind Bassnectar and this remarkable double-disc
debut. Driving force, not one man band, because the list of collaborators
on this disc provides Lorin the opportunity to work his magic with the
sounds of some of the many folks he's met on the road during his relentless
and seemingly non-stop touring.
Check out the jammy goodness of his remix
of STS9's "Some Sing." Or the funky bounce of "Bursting," with Buckethead
and the "vs Freq Nasty" remix of Everybody that closes the first disc.
(Lorin likes to save the good stuff for last, finishing disc 2 with another
killer remix, this one of HDC and KRS One's "Arrival"). But it's perhaps
the opening of disc 2 that gets right to the heart of what Bassnectar is
all about. While the first disc's "Intro" track invokes a children's
storybook, this one is all grown up, and features a vocal sample from none
other than veteran nose tweaker Noam Chomsky, who reminds us that the
liberty we enjoy was redeemed at dear cost and should be treated as a
responsibility, not a right. Setting that kind of tone elevates this album
from an impressive collection of electronic styles ranging from chill-out
to breakbeat to DnB to glitch to IDM and a unique synthesis of all of
these, to a positive Statement that reflects not only Lorin's passion about
his music, but what it means to be a music maker. One with an audience not
just to play to, but to join with.
There was a famous title during the 60s
called "Steal This Book" which neatly captured the zeitgeist of the
counterculture revolution taking place. Don't steal this record - buy it.
Buy it, and support a true revolutionary working at the peak of his craft
to inspire people and engage them in his work - and theirs.
