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***Vinyl released the week of 11/17/03. This EP is a 21-minute companion piece to Him's Many In High Places Are Not Well album on the Bubble Core label. Doug Scharin on drums and Rhodes is joined on cornet by Rob Mazurek (Isotope 217, Chicago Underground Duo, and others) along with guests Christian Dautresme, Joe Goldring, Griffin Rodriguez. Him started out as the solo recording project of Scharin, whose excellent drumming can be heard with Rex, June of '44, Out In Worship, Codeine, and others. At the Rexville loft in Brooklyn, using only a four-track, he laid down some seriously thick dub on the minimal tip, with a heavy emphasis on layered rhythms. A move to Chicago brought in some additional members for Sworn Eyes, which Stereophile magazine called one of the top 66 records to die for of all time. Doug Scharin is a well-travelled man, having established himself as a consummate collaborator through tours of duty as a member of Codeine, June of '44, Directions in Music, and Rex.... This new Him album should however give Scharin the platform to push himself forward as an inspiring instigator as well as a backroom facilitator....With its galloping afro-beat percussion, hazy/lazy sliding guitars, blasts of New Orleans brass, and guest singer Christian Dautresme's wordless harmonies ... the beauty and imagination of the whole production stems from Scharin's ability to masterfully mould melodies from the shades and subtleties ... pushing his songs into fulsome, intercontinental rhythm reveries, gorgeous gliding space-pop, and stripped-down slow-melting jazz interludes.... [Him] extols the joys of crossbreeding tropical head-music with heart-stopping urban groove rides: an exemplary exploration of erudite sonic shape-shifting.
-Delusions of Adequacy |
