Throwing Muses' longtime drummer
David Narcizo helms
Lakuna, whose 1999 debut
Castle Of Crime blends found sounds, programmed and live drums, samples of vintage music and spoken word albums and electronic textures.
Despite being radically different from his other band,
Lakuna includes contributions old friends and former bandmates like
Tom Gorman,
Bernard Georges and
Kristin Hersh as well as new collaborators Misi Bennett and Frank Gardner.
Because of its sample-intensive nature, Castle of Crime borrows from the trip-hop genre heavily, but sounds more open and less slick. An innocent, somewhat remote feel pervades the album's 8 tracks, from the world music-tinged "Lemongrass" to the dreamy "The Very Next Day; " even darker tracks like "On The Floor" are more moody and atmospheric than menacing. Narcizo develops a fresh and intriguing sound with
Lakuna, and one that will appeal to fans of genre-pushing music as well as Muses devotees. ~ Heather Phares