steering clear of the mainstream
since 2001

june 2010

review
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
blankred.jpg (4669 bytes)
info opinion

Analogik

"Klunserbeats Live" CD

Jenka Music

Genre: electronic

Denmark

May 19, 2009

Whimsical and wonderful, Klunserbeats Live is a difficult album to pin down. Culling influence from jazz, hip-hop, and World music ("World" intended in as broad a sense as possible), Danish electronic quartet Analogik has put together a consistently amazing kaleidoscope of tracks here. Merging the organic with the electronic, they've produced a record that whirs by in a haze of horns, guitar, beats, and samples.

But the key to Klunserbeats is ultmately how damn fun it is. Cross-breeding the sheer accessibility of acts such as Royksopp and Lemon Jelly with a Messer Chups-esque level of generic impulsivity, these folks treat the audience to a blazing good time. Tangible examples? St. Germain influenced, zippy jazzer "Gypsie Doodle." Imaginary secret agent film theme song "Das Agentos." Accordion-adorned Parisian waltz "Visen." And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Before the record is over, you'll have waded your way through wired-up Indian tunage ("Røg"), Olde European balladeering ("Fransk And"), and 8-bit dinkiness. Remarkably, despite the veritable pot pourri of influences, the record retains an inexplicable cohesion, never losing the listener in its bevy of disparate sounds. Instead, these tracks manage to effortlessly traverse temporal and spatial boundaries, maintaining melody and rhythm throughout. It's superb.

Taken together, this might be the best release so far from the impressive Jenka Music label. I would and will recommend this to all music lovers.

analogik's myspace

89%

youuuuuuuutube!: video for "tempobeat", "hraman the man" video

 

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 15 tracks, distributed by the label, released 2008]