Clinton, Disco & The Half Way To Discontent (Meccico/Astralwerks)
Clinton is the dance-y side project of Cornershop's Tjinder Singh and Benedict Ayres. While it has been available in England since September, it doesn't come out in the states until January 25th. The duo are influenced by many of the same electro-funk elements as Beck's Midnite Vultures, but with a less dense sound. Clinton allows the beats more space, with a spare, comfortable sound of Kraftwerk bleeps and old-skool hip-hop scratching. Like Cornershop, they occasionally incorporate some Indian percussion such as on "G.T. Road," which is spiced up by a slyly nearly-unnoticeable backdrop of a woman climaxing. Clinton cuts the awkard experiments that bogged Cornershop down and lopes along at a relaxed, James Brown funky-popcorn beat, exemplified by "The Hot For May Sound," complete with 60s soul organs. Singh's vocals are more smooth and tuneful than he's ever been in the past. Every song is a winner, from the dance floor shuffle of "Buttoned Down Disco," the bouncy "Hip Hop Bricks," the waxing philosophical "Electric Ice Cream (Miami Jammies)" the mesmerizing melancholy of "Before The Fizz Is Gone" to the "oobie doo, ooh ooh" beat-crazy closing tune of "Welcome To Tokyo, Otis Clay." While I'm not sure about the claim of Clinton's Web site that they "move things on a few notches," it is an unpretentious, playful, addictive album that I couldn't stop playing over and over. It was definitely the most listened to album of the year in the house of Fast 'n' Bulbous.
