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Fez Dispenser:
This Is Trip-Bop
Fez Dispensers sophomore effort This is Trip-Bop has a title that on its own scares a critic who isn't as versed in the many different styles in the genre of "Electronica." However, with a little listening and an open mind, it's not hard to see that this is the kind of versatile outfit that doesn't wear off its welcome easily. So, for the purpose of not seeming over-presumptuous on a topic that I know little to nothing about, I'm going to go ahead and admit that I have no idea what trip-bop is (and for the record, I still don't have a concise definition of what "post-modernism" means.) Ill even go ahead and say that I don't really know what it means to be trip-hop anymore, and with this, I risk the loss of all credibility. Fez Dispenser is Matt Thorne (a prolific Los Angeles music/sound producer) with a bunch of help from his friends, who keep him supplied with the inspiration and beats to put together a record as eclectic as this one here. There are elements swirling from across the globe without being all over the place along with a keen sense of form and structure that somehow captures all of the sonic mayhem that can occur when you set your musical spirits wild. You can hear the jazzy D.J. Shadowy forces working strong in "Now You're Soaking In It," but it's a bit unfair to say that this sounds like D.J. Shadow. Even if we're talking about "In/Flux," we still have to acknowledge the fact that Thorne would be a contemporary of D.J. Shadow, as both have been brewing this musical feeling for roughly the same amount of time. First, D.J. Shadow got his props, and now it's time for Thorne to reap the benefits. As opposed to saying this one started this and that, you should just be able to envision D.J. Shadow, Tricky, Roni Size and a Tribe Called Quest all gathered in the same workspace bobbing their heads to "This Is Trip-Bop," while all secretly wishing to make similar sounding music. With songs like "The Hoarse Whistler," your brain is fried when you don't know if you are in a Bollywood picture, a Sergio Mendes recording studio or swimming at an Indonesian beach before you get swallowed by a behemoth. You just go with the soothing whistling and whispering that are going on in your peripheral, and you try to fight off the urge to say it almost sounds like an incarnation of a song from "Friday Night in San Francisco" by Al DiMeola, John McLaughlin and Paco DeLucia. The rest of the album continues to perplex the listener blissfully just until you give up on trying to describe it and admit that you love it and wouldn't know what to do without it in your collection. It can serve as a good wake-up and chill album on a Sunday morning with songs like the title track and "Like Ducks off a River's Back," but you can also use it to swank up your next martini party with other like-minded hipsters in search of something fresh. Fresh is the right word to use when describing the pleasantries of "You What Now?" and "Extra Noodles," but it's up to the individual to decide if they are adventurous enough to be challenged when it comes to taste. You might not like it, but why not try it?
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