From the traditionalist artwork on the cover to the intro (a hazy, spoken-word track reminiscent of
Lee Hazlewood), listeners can easily be forgiven for expecting an electronica/rock crossover album on the order of
Air or
Groove Armada. Instead,
Aim's
Cold Water Music is a jazzy, beat-heavy project that's just a few steps removed from straight-ahead hip-hop. Producer Andy Turner, a self-confessed beathead, cycles between jazz-rap and alternative wall-of-sound influences to bedrock his productions. Turner also gets props for drafting three excellent rappers -- Q'n'C,
YZ, and
AG -- to add vocals, resulting in several tracks that evoke the heyday of rap's Golden Age, but are also tough enough to survive even on modern mainstream rap radio. Though half of the standard songs are vocal tracks, Turner also shines on the instrumentals, constructing a paranoid beat symphony on "Demonique" with shrieking strings and an extended vocal sample from some forgotten B-movie.