Boris & Ian Astbury – BXI
Southern Lord: 2010
After releasing their psych-rock opus Smile in 2008 and a two-track LP with touring guitarist Michio Kurihara, Japanese trio Boris slowed its collective roll. Sure, the three shoegaze/punk/drone/metal/experimental rockers toured the globe and released a few scattered singles, but their time in the studio was apparently limited. That didn’t necessarily change in 2010, though this past spring brought the announcement of an EP with Ian Astbury, of the Cult. The results are engaging, if not surprisingly straightforward. Now, this shouldn’t really be all that shocking, as Boris changes its musical mindset from one release to the next. But to hear them and Astbury deliver a well-executed heavy shoegaze EP is, if nothing else, a testament to all of their abilities. The tracks on here are just as soul-crushing as they are tender, thanks mostly to the juxtaposition of distorted guitars, gigantic drums, and monotone-to-tender vocals, the last of which vary between Astbury’s solemn tone and guitarist Wata’s airy coo on Cult cover “Rain”. While this should all make for a rather perfect listen — and it’s certainly worth at least a spin or two — too often do these melodies and harmonies sound lifted from other songs you have heard before. That might evoke a feeling of nostalgia or at-home warmth to some. But it’s a shame that these two acts, Boris especially, have made something so musically tight and organic that also fails to find its own footing. – Andrew Martin
3 out of 5
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Natural Self – My Heart Beats: Remixes And Versions
Tru Thoughts: 2010
It’s one thing to DJ and to compile a record of remixes and/or mashups. It’s one thing to play your own music – instruments vocals and all. It’s quite a whole other thing when someone does it all. From the remixing to the instruments to the vocals, Natural Self has taken it upon himself to dabble in a bit of everything on his latest EP, My Heart Beats: Remixes and Versions. Natural Self takes songs from various acts on Tru Thoughts, Brownswood and a few other of the finest labels Europe has to offer and reworks them into a stunning nine-track set of dance, funk, jazz and trip-hop. The real treat comes with the EP’s centerpiece, “Street Spirit”, which finds Natural Self singing Radiohead’s song of the same name over a track consisting of live organs in tune to DJ Shadow’s “Organ Donor” and a drum loop ripped from an unreleased Broken Keys recording session. My Heart Beats: Remixes and Versions is an anomaly in the realm of remix albums – rather than sounding merely like rehashed songs, Natural Self has crafted something entirely his own. – Zach Cole
4 out of 5
