| Daedelus' 2005 Mush Records offering, Exquisite Corpse, shows the artist's production skills in typically fine form. Given his Romantic propensity to create his sound collages based primarily around "easy listening" samples of pop arrangements lifted from the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, it's not surprising that he has named his newest effort, intended to be a collaborative effort featuring various and sundry guest performers, after a 1920s Surrealist parlor game based on a sort of random word collage intended to produce "accidental poetry." On the surface, Daedelus' effort appears to be quite ambitious. Upon closer inspection, however, Exquisite Corpse's title is merely a method the composer employs to legitimize the fact that the record is simply another album in a long string of releases by contemporary instrumental electronic/hip hop artists which predominantly feature guest vocalists. First of all, let it be said that Daedelus' production style defies easy categorization. Equal parts hip hop, downtempo, jazzy IDM, and big band/swing string samples culled from old LPs, Daedelus' cinematic arrangements are frequently jarring in their construction; yet they are effective, accenting his work with an oddly warm, timeless quality. His unique and sophisticated approach to contemporary electronic music is best expressed on his 2002 debut full-length, Invention, a breakthrough album which was something of a breath of fresh air in a genre which was quickly becoming stale. Perhaps instrumental electronic artists, particularly those with connections (however tenuous) to the world of underground hip hop, are feeling that their genre is becoming anemic. Nonetheless, more and more electronic artists (Prefuse 73, DJ Krush, U.N.K.L.E., etc) have taken to recruiting the usual cast of guest artists to "beef up" their releases. This strategy has the effect of disrupting the homogeneity of a studio album, frequently making it sound more like a compilation than a studio album. Lamentably, Exquisite Corpse is one of these releases. Daedelus' strength as an artist lies in his ability to create electronic music that is complex and sophisticated enough to be stand-alone instrumental music that needs no added enhancement. While Exquisite Corpse, musically, is a strong, even beautiful release at times, the addition of vocals (particularly rap vocals) on most tracks has the effect of blunting the impact of the music itself. The subtleties of the music become lost, rendering the pieces as simple backing tracks. Usually the technique of adding a guest artist is relegated to the ubiquitous "bonus track." But on this record, what the listener is presented with is essentially an entire album of bonus tracks -- background music backing a series of phoned-in performances. The pieces that are strictly instrumental are strong enough in their own right, though most are either too short or too sparse, sounding too much like whimsical "interludes" to carry much lasting resonance. Exquisite Corpse's saving grace is that there is enough variety to its ensemble of guest performers to keep the listener somewhat interested. The "accidental poetry," however, just doesn't seem to happen here. The guest performances on Exquisite Corpse are a series of distractions that range from moderately interesting (Laura Darling) to unnecessary (Sci and TTC). Overall, Daedelus has released a record that is by no means unlistenable, but fails to live up to the promise and intensity of his first few releases. - Tiny Mix Tapes |
1XLP/Out Of Print