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Published on 7/18/08
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A digital-dancehall groove graced by the otherworldy sound of a theremin; crunk, dub, drum ’n’ bass, reggae, and the distorted bass and beats of grime and breakcore crammed into a three-minute track—Sonic Weapons is not your everyday album. And that’s all for the good. Produced by Boston’s DJ C, who also runs the appropriately named Mashit label, the collection of singles, remixes and instrumental versions integrates all of the above—and then some. It’s a vertigo-inducing, roller-coaster ride in a style that he’s taken to calling Boston Bounce. (It possibly has something to do with those beans.…)
Take a cut like “Come Back Version,” an instrumental version of DJ C’s Tigerbeat6 release “Come Back Wicked.” Kicking off in a fairly straightforward digi-dub style, the beats swiftly burst into a breakcore paroxysm that morphs into some full-blown, Squarepusher-style avant-rhythmic madness before settling back into a reggaefied jungle groove, complete with a microsample of the Bob Marley chestnut“Could You Be Loved”—all in the span of two minutes. But Trussell has thoughtfully included a few pit stops along the way for those prone to motion sickness. The “Let It Billie” remix, for instance, would be a fairly conventional ragga-vocal reggae number if not for those distorted drums, while album closer “Dehydrogenated” (one of the album’s two theremin tracks, with Pamelia Kurstin oscillating the radio waves) is an understated, broken-beat beauty that lifts its melody from Devo’s “Gut Feeling,” of all places. Nonetheless, a dose of Dramamine before listening to Sonic Weapons is highly recommended.
