Muamin Collective
World B. Free
(self-released)
On their third album World B. Free, Muamin Collective focus
on the beats. It’s as if the guys aspire to a new-age, newfangled
hip-hop reworking of Phil Spector’s legendary Wall of Sound. Like a
symphonic Picasso, beat-maker aLive painstakingly layers sonic touches,
taking a Mavis Staples sample here and a snippet from an Obama speech
there. These disparate sounds sometimes blend into a harmonious
concoction, but the production is often muddled and obscures the
vocals. You wonder why this Afro-futuristic group would bury its
well-written narratives. On “Ponzi Scheme,” however, the odd verbal
sequence breaks through the cacophony long enough to display the
lyrical talents of aLive and Zion. — Michael Oatman
Self-Destruct Button
Juice Tiger
(Tower Control)
myspace.com/selfdestructbutton
It takes a bit to adjust to the mind-melting time signatures on
“Opponens Pollicis,” the opening tune on the new album by local
noisemakers Self-Destruct Button. But it’s a good icebreaker for an
album that’s a difficult listen. Available on vinyl with a digital
download card so you can put the tunes on your computer or iPod,
Juice Tiger recalls the abrasive side of Touch and Go’s ’90s
roster, though it’s more inspired by Shellac than the Jesus Lizard.
Guitars slash and crash with abandon on “A Corpse in the Mouth,” and
“Quintessence NOW!” lurches like an epileptic in slow-mo. Easily the
album’s best track, “Vision, Filled With Miles of Air” has an epic
quality, and almost ventures into post-rock territory. Heady stuff.
— Jeff Niesel
Self-Destruct Button perform with Terminal Lovers, Ghandi SS,
Michael Pultz and DJ Mikey Machine at 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4, at Now
That’s Class (11213 Detroit Ave., 216.221.8576, myspace.com/nowthatsclass).
Hear new music from Self Destruct Button on our new online
streaming jukebox: clevescene.com/kicking_and_streaming
This article appears in Sep 2-8, 2009.
