OOIOO
Kila Kila Kila
(Thrill Jockey)

OOIOO brings out more organic instrumentation on this record, distancing themselves even further from the glitch-tronics of "Feather Float". "Kila! Kila! Kila!" employs the same improv that we’ve come to expect from Yoshimi, but with a more tribal feel, dipping a toe into the waters of the no-Neck Blues Band or Sun Burned Hand of the Man. In other words, this record is spastic and trance-inducing, and is one of the more innovative being sold by an indie label. Along with Wolf Eyes, OOIOO is pushing the underground music scene, previously relegated to the pages of Bananafish magazine, to the quasi-mainstream realm of indie. Whether this is a good or bad thing will, I’m sure, be a subject of much debate. But I digress... "Kila! Kila! Kila!" opens with a stuttering, erratic organ and a half whispered vocal and then quickly begins finding, losing, and inventing its own grooves. The extended madness that is "Sizuku Ring Neng" is a hypnotic, genre-melting trip to the edges of music and back, bringing in elements of funk, folk, and psych, distilling them and stripping away inhibitions. It is like listening to three songs that have collapsed into one, with a unique cohesion in spite of itself. The fourth track, "on mani", starts with a groove that bursts into a frenetic orchestral cacaphony, with strings, drums, bass, guitars, and horns all swirling around in a beautiful stew. The best song on the record. The epic "Aster" starts with a nod to Pauline Oliveros’ deep listening experiments and goes from there, crossing an immeasurable distance of musical terrain before returning to the beginning. The closer, "Anuenue Au", is one of the more structured songs on the record and is also a sparkling and happy song, upbeat. "Kila! Kila! Kila!" is the finest release yet from one of the most interesting and adventurous bands operating in indie music today. Yoshimi, having defeated the pink robots, has gifted us a wonderful piece of music; let’s hope there’s more to come.

-Dan


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