RE:SONATE (WITH GAUDI)

Re:Sonate is a collaboration between the super-prolific Pete Namlook and Gaudi, a man whose name I've never heard before. Judging from the album cover, I had to assume that this album was going to be a mixture of Namlook's ambient cosmic style with Jamaican dub, a genre I've never cared for - it seemed like it would be a good listen. Fortunately, I was right. This album is a banger.

"The 7th Spirit" moves along at a very steady, slow tempo drenched in Namlook's dreamy cosmic ambience with slight accentuations that fade in and out, all backed by an easy and bassy Jamaican dub groove with ethnic percussion. Not much progression, but it is very relaxing and it sounds really "cool".

"NAFK" begins with witchdoctor speech, but sounds German. Besides ethnic percussion and the spoken word segments, this track is purely an affair of airy drones that wave slowly throughout.

"The Sun Won't Set" is another solid Jamaican dub groove with a nice bass line and great ethnic percussion, but this track is more upbeat than the first - about mid-tempo. Also, like the first track, Namlook's cosmic atmosphere sound effects and experimental drones fill the groove nicely, and some light piano playing gives this track a little bit of variety against the first.

I honestly wasn't expecting much from this, giving that I've never heard of Gaudi and that Namlook's discography is massive, but this really was a great listen. I've never been into dub at all, but perhaps this will serve as a good crossover for me. I'd highly recommend this very unique, atmospheric album.