Austerity can kiss its ass goodbye. At least for the moment, as abstract breakbeat producer
T-Power slips out of his lab coat and into something more comfortable with
Chocolate Weasel partner Chris Stevens. And what do these technophile scientists do on their nights off? They throw down some sample-heavy cocktails and end up with
Spaghettification, the sort of television-wise affair that stretches and mutilates the mundane into a groovy psychedelic joint that
the Beastie Boys might have made if they were less into spiritual clarity and more into sheets of acid. The slug-slow beat of "Weasenstein" is the sound of the grime behind your couch that you can't be bothered to clean, while "Zen Method" should be the de facto soundtrack to rereading your favorite Hunter S. Thompson book. Yet for all the worn upholstery on this album surface,
T-Power and Stevens can't hide the digital architects that they really are, as the closing track, "The Other Side of Madness," runs right along the edge of editing freakout, threatening to stumble at any moment into glitch-hop. Nonetheless, it's nice to see Ninja Tune expanding their stoner-phonics into the realm of hallucination jams. But you can't help but feel this was just a lost weekend, not a full-time lifestyle choice. ~ Joshua Glazer