Walking a fine line between hip-hop and electronica,
Take (aka
Thomas Wilson), has impressed the Los Angeles scene with a series of excellent EPs, remixes, and innovative DJ sets. Now he's finally moved up to a full-length with his debut
Earthtones & Concrete, an intricate set that's highly experimental, but thoroughly enjoyable.
Take's music has always been difficult to categorize or qualify, and this album no less so, as
Wilson embarks on a musical journey comprised of instrumentals, brief interludes, and a few vocal numbers spun across 18 tracks. The atmosphere is relaxed, although the rhythms are invariably off-kilter; on the spacy "Black Space & Tangerines" they virtually stutter. Elsewhere they pause to consider their effect, as with "Monopoly Money," whose funky bassline counterpoints the pretty organ line above. "Stepping Over Buildings" is even more down and dirty, pushing straight towards the dancefloor, but there's a splendid robotic feel to it all --
P-Funk puppet theater perhaps. In which case, "Slouched Over RMX" is the soundtrack for a hip, animatrix dinosaur sliding on down a swampy