Kaminari

A big, beautiful mess of a debut from this drum'n'bass man, who is Japanese in name and sound samples only (he's actually from Liverpool). Kumo can go from pleasantly ambient, with watery bleeps and burps bubbling up to the surface, to menacing and dark, as in "Tigerstyle" of Kick Your Ass. On "7 Buckets" he uses to great effect the sound of a harp strum, turning it backwards and ripping it into bits. And on "The Kraken Wakes" and "(I Hear) Daruma" he gets some interesting new sounds from a Theremin. There is a deft hand and ear in control here, and the results are rather stunning; great music to clear your head. ~ Ted Mills