It's pretty rare to encounter dance music designed to appeal as much to the head as the hips, but
Beige (otherwise known as Oliver Braun) manages to create just that sort of effect on his debut full-length. Tracks from this album have already appeared on Caipirinha's Deutsche Funk collection and the 1999 Leaf compilation titled Osmosis, so I Don't Either should find an eager crowd of abstract groovemongers awaiting its appearance. The sound is a bit dry and minimalist, as you'd expect, but also texturally tasty and deeply, deeply groovy. "Hydro:Porto," with its blippy synth and self-effacing drum program, is fun, funny, and funky, all at the same time; "Beige 04/35/08" manages to sound like a computer imitating
James Brown (and is worth the price of the CD by itself); and the very aptly titled "Jamaica Fraktal" starts out with a reggae intro, then deconstructs the theme brutally and funkily. The more you listen to this album, the more you'll hear, and that's just about the highest praise any album with artistic aspirations can receive. ~ Rick Anderson