Mixed Emotional Features
Anyone who caught Mocean Worker's previous release,Home Movies from the Brainforest, will no doubt be more than willing to take part in this action-packed sonic adventure teeming with impenetrable rhythms, mesmerizing loops, and out-of-the-blue musical scene changes. Adam Dorn does more than build some of the grooviest drum & bass into a blatantly jazz-era soundscape; the New York based artist pushes analog and digital-powered synths into the mix, along with some highly effective and masterfully understated samples. Midway into "Detonator," the second track on this his debut release on the Palm Pictures label, Dorn decides to throw a hyperspeed big-band section into a groove dominated by a controlling monotone. Equally unexpected, but from the other end of the spectrum, is a plaintive line that effectively halts the progress of a highly percussive and strings-laden song. The delightfully resonant "Boba Fett" closes out this much-anticipated work.--Paul Clark