Andy Coleman led the charge when drum-and-bass took an enthusiastic left turn toward the spastic burp-beats and frenzied time signatures of "drill-and-bass." As producers traded precision for sloppy energy, Coleman's Animal on Wheels project at least retained a core of solid songcraft amid its zanier deviations. The headz at Ninja Tune recognized this standout quality, snapped up AoW from Coleman's micro-indie Bovinyl label, and loosed him on the world.
NUVOL I CADIRA, Coleman's second AoW album for Ninja Tune, repays the downtempo empire's investment in spades. Coleman is still too clever by half, though here he harnesses his eccentricities in service of some truly memorable music. The refined AoW sound is a close cousin to Boards of Canada's "toytronic" whimsy, with hazy, lazy melodies hammered out on melting xylophones and ancient synths, kinky yet crisp hip-hop beats, and oddball sample drop-ins. But NUVOL I CADIRA has a genuine richness that reveals more of itself with each spin. Such tracks as "How It Destructs," "To a Void You Is All Now," and "Them to BC" bolster AoW's trademark scatter-breaks with a melange of jazz drumming, dreamy electronics, tricked-out production, moody melodies, and fusion froth. Cordially decadent and simply delectable.