Laika, Good Looking Blues (Too Pure) 9+
Artists such as Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky always get the credit for originating the hybrid of dub, soul, dance, hip-hop and electronica known as trip-hop. Yet Margaret Fiedler and Guy Fixsen were doing some of the same things with Moonshake in the early 90s. Laika's 1994s debut Silver Apples Of The Moon was a groundbreaking classic that has rarely gotten credit for its brilliant feat of making its dense polyrhythmic electronica sound organic. Good Looking Blues is Laika's third release, and is in the unfortunate position of sounding familiar now that many other artists, from Stereolab to Gus Gus and Björk, have incorporated their innovations. Nevertheless it is an essential new chapter in the band's development, progressing from 1997's Sounds of the Satellites by lightening up on the frantic heart-attack beats and incorporating more slinky dance rhythms. It still stands out from typical club fare, with subtle touches that can be surprising, but are still distinct, such as when the funky "Go Fish" uses West African rhythms in the background. Fiedler has grown as a vocalist, varying her usual hushed raps by truly belting it out on "Glory Cloud." Any passion, lust, anger in the lyrics are controlled to a slow simmer, tempered by a consistently dry humor which is overdone in "Badtimes," taken from an actual anonymous joke e-mail about a virus of mythological proportions. Amusing as it is, it belongs on a Bongwater record, or better to have been left to rot in cyber-Hell. All is forgiven in the stunning post-Bitches Brew Miles Davis space-horn driven funk of "Widows' Weed," proving that no one can sound like Laika better than Laika.
