(Ninja Tune/Inertia)

Pretty bright for a blockhead

Blockhead has produced tracks for guys like Aesop Rock and Cage and combined with the fact that he’s on Ninja Tune it’s obvious right from the start his hip hop is going to be pretty left-field. The Music Scene is a sample-based instrumental album built with the Ableton Live software; it’s extremely composerly with themes coming and going and beats shifting and merging like a bunch of Ratatat tracks being played by a funk band and an orchestra simultaneously. Vocal samples provide context for the songs, for instance the title track has the faded sound of a pop singer from decades ago crooning, “The music scene has got me down / Cause I don’t want to be a clown.” The Daily Routine takes a recording of drug addicts arguing and finds music in their shouting, which is first played on crunchy guitar before being taken up by a choir and then flute and finally returning to the argument to find the next rhythm. The Music Scene is an ambitious album and at times so dense as to be ear-boggling, but it’s worth repeated listens. It rewards study and a willingness to get lost in the worlds Blockhead creates in each track.

****

JODY MACGREGOR

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