Heave Media

Black Dice Drop Opus of Colorful “Tone Bombs.”

Brooklynites continue to push forward into new sonic territory.

Black Dice

Repo

Released on Apr 07, 2009

Black Dice belong to a rare breed. They are one of those few bands with the ability to consistently challenge their fans’ definition of experimental music. Each album comes packed to the brim with so many visually stimulating sounds, that one cursory listen just doesn’t do the band justice. On their latest release, they’ve delivered well on that reputation by crafting a solid collection of tracks well suited for repeated listening with your favorite pair of headphones.

Released by Animal Collective’s Paw Tracks imprint, REPO marks Black Dice’s 5^th full-length release. It shows brothers Bjorn and Eric Copeland and Aaron Warren exploring new forms of their sprawling electronic soundscapes–which has become one of their signatures–while simultaneously condensing them into harder-hitting and more immediate nuggets of abstract pop. This couldn’t be more evident than on the album’s first single, “Glazin.” It’s an almost perfect example of Black Dice’s ability to create a hummable pop melody out of some of the most wacked-out sounds you’ll hear released this year.

“La Cucaracha,” another notable track, further displays the band’s pop sensibilities while managing to sound like robots interpreting tribal dance music around an Amazonian bonfire. It’s almost as interesting as the groovy saxophone that chugs throughout “Ultra Vomit Craze.” The term “saxophone” is being used very lightly here, since you’re never sure what instrument is being manipulated in the first place. Then there’s the elastic, reverberating latter portion of “Earnings Plus Interest.” If it were possible to hear your own brain synapses firing, this is surely what they’d sound like.

Throw in a countless number of other glitchy elements and you pretty much get the idea of what REPO is all about. It’s the sound of Black Dice creating sonic environments borrowed from an array of internet, TV, and radio sources and mashing them together into completely unique textural messes. They are “repossessing” these mediums and creating something totally fresh as a result. Even the album cover is a nod to the ubiquitous mash-up culture we live in– a mixed media style piece that combines splatters of brightly colored paint atop unidentifiable 1960s style album covers. The Pollock-esque globs leave exposed the album’s title and the phrase “Go where new experiences await you.” All in all, the artwork makes for a pretty accurate visual representation of the album’s sound and even sneaks in some not-so-subtle drug innuendo for good measure.

It’s probably worth mentioning that a record like this doesn’t fare well in large social settings. Unless it’s being played live, of course. Throw on a few Black Dice songs at a party then count how many people pillage your apartment in search of your laptop to press “next” in iTunes. It’ll happen. But that reaction should be expected from a band that people either tend to love or hate. What sounds like arbitrary bleeps and drum loops to one person is the next person’s favorite song. It’s this open-ended nature of their music that makes Black Dice so fascinating in the first place.

Posted by Brett Westnedge on Apr 02, 2009 @ 6:00 am