Tom Djll - Mutootator (Soul On Rice)

I just bought this; it arrived a few days ago. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. I do think it’s good, a veritable circus of talent in cleverly and closely juxtaposed snapshot.

Released in 1993 to inaugurate the now thankfully re-awakened Soul on Rice imprint, this is a series of duets, some readily discernable as such and many not; I was struck by how much of this record faces forward, anticipating music in which many are now reveling as innovative. True, there’s a lot of cutup here as Djll’s live sampling keeps things fresh, but listen to “Magnetopause” as it quenches the claustrophobic semi-smoldering of “Wipum”, one of the Djll/Jack Wright pairings. It shimmers into life, following its own path of overtones in beautifully harmonic manifestation of sonic temporaries, the Djll/Ed Herrmann duo conjuring drony visions of recent William Basinski. Temperaments and timbres morph and fade with tortoisian inexorability, a stunning contrast to the disc’s largely jump cut and whiplash aesthetic. It’s one of the longest tracks on offer here, and one of its most successful.

I’ve made this stuff sound so damn serious! The disc is huge fun, as much Zappa as Stockhausen, the titles often as humorously evocative as the half-recognizable samples flitting in and out of focus. “Carnivore of Venice” finds Doug Carroll providing a basso continuo while Djll busts out misshapen loops that chase their own tails right out of the gate.

Veterans like Myles Boisen and William Winant appear and disappear along side folks with whom I’m entirely unfamiliar—who’s this Hillary Double-D, (Please don’t let my ignorance rob you of veteran status, Hillary!) and where can I hear more of her incisively random and socio-politically abstract poeticizing? Oh, I’ll just press play and enjoy it all again!

~ Marc Medwin