Howie B
Music For Babies

Years ago, I read about how intriguing a dj-set by Howie B. was: the mastery with which he mixed records and the skillful alternation between the turntables and other electronic gadgets. Given his slight stature, his figure vanished behind the stacks of piled-up vinyl and it almost seemed as if the music was self-generated, selecting and stitching itself to be ever-ready for the evolution of sound.

Unfortunately, I still haven't seen Howie B. live and I had never listened to one of his albums, even though I knew that on certain other albums, the work behind the production desk was his and it was a masterful effort. Until a few days ago, the words I had read remained buried in my memory, but they surfaced autonomously when I listened to 'Music For Babies'. It must be said in advance that this CD should be accompanied by the reading of short stories written by a certain Mike Benson and the viewing of a short film directed by Run Wrake, so it is akin to a soundtrack. Even though the listening is sparse without images or words, it remains an engaging experience.

A conceptual music not far from certain Warp things, devoid of lo-fi overtones yet enveloping in its progress like electronic post-rock. Best listened to in the dark, or almost, in a desired and perhaps slightly altered solitude. A digital flow of sharp sounds leads to a cruel chase of deep reverberations in the title track, while Cry is haunting, ambient contaminated by a soft oriental beat. Shag starts off as minimalism, perhaps a bit sterile, but lets itself be contaminated by clever jungle rhythms and on nearly the same frequencies, just pervaded by a slight sense of nonsense, travels Allergy. All compositions are rather short, intelligent, and not just cerebral. Rarely does it verge on pure onanism, the rhythm never falls too low, and certain tracks have an irresistible pace.

Even in the desert-like post-rock of Away Again, surreal Latin diversions emerge and How To Suckie bravely flirts with jazz. Here and there, seeds can be recognized previously sown by Miles Davis, Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, Jah Wobble, Goldie… Here and there, seeds are planted that will influence hip-hop generations (On The Way, seems like Company Flow immersed in cotton wool), other adventures between ambient and sound-track (to name two contemporaneous artists who later will apply themselves to film scoring, Dust Brothers and Massive Attack)…