Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Bill Laswell — Points of Order
(Innerhythmic INR011, 2001, CD)

by Sean McFee, Published 2002-04-01

Points of Order Cover art

Bill Laswell seems to have never heard a style of music he can’t try his hand at, and this latest album is notable for fusing together the world of underground hip-hop (courtesy of the Anti Pop Consortium) with his own idiosyncratic musical vision. In addition to the requisite percussion are Laswell’s ambient soundscapes and production values. Large stretches of this album are instrumental, with groovy bass lines, off-kilter, effected horn-playing, sound effects and a general hypnotic vibe. It is these portions which will be most attractive to those Exposé readers who don’t gravitate to an urban sound; the whole thing is powerfully reminiscent of Painkiller’s death ambient works crossed with a light dosage of IDM. Although the Anti Pop Consortium appear on only a small portion of the album, the whole thing has a quasi-hip hop thing going, and although there is no specific crediting I swear I hear some deft turntable work; although with a studio craftsman like Laswell who knows what is on the fly and what is after the fact? While I have always found it difficult to follow Laswell into all of his stylistic endeavors, this one strikes me as a winner, and readers should not let the presence of rap vocals on a couple of tracks discourage them from eating this up.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 24, 2001 releases

Related artist(s): Karsh Kale, Brian Patrick Carroll (Buckethead / Death Cube K), Bill Laswell, Toshinori Kondo

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.