We is a trio consisting of
DJ Olive (not to be confused with
Olive),
Lloop, and
Once11. These three technocrats have built a reputation for themselves as theoretical party animals -- "decentertainment" is a term the group has coined to describe the type of event they prefer to stage, which is based on the idea of "decentering" the focus away from the performers and creating a "fully immersive omnisensorial environment." You can take the theory for what it's worth; what ultimately matters is the high quality of this music, which varies in flavor from downtempo funk ("Afrique," "Pull") to dense and complicated drum'n'bass ("Micro Al Hammed," "Vulpecula") and deeply weird and uncategorizable electronica ("One Personal Dream"). The band members were reputedly scattered around the world during the creation of this album, sending sound files to each other via modem and working out tracks on laptop computers in the backs of cabs (talk about decentering), and the result can' t exactly be called cohesive. But that's part of its charm: where far too many electronica albums in the late '90s/early '00s consist of 60 minutes of one idea,
Decentertainment is all over the place, and constantly yields new musical surprises. Highly recommended. ~ Rick Anderson