You're Dead!
6 October 2014
Warp
4.5
stars out of 5
I
haven't yet read any reviews of You're Dead!,
but I'm certain than several of them will make reference to
Squarepusher/Tom Jenkinson within the first couple of sentences (much
like this one does). Featuring jazz legends Ronald Bruner, Jr. and
Herbie Hancock on drums and keys respectively, YD!
explodes out of the gate like an update of Squarepusher's 1998
deranged jazz classic, Music Is Rotted One Note.
Add to this appearances by Dirty Projectors' Angel Deradoorian,
whip-smart chanteuse Kimbra, film score legend Ennio Morricone (yes,
the guy that wrote the theme to The Good, the Bad, and the
Ugly), and the greatest rapper
in the game today, Kendrick Lamar, and YD!
packs enough all-star punch to get the entire league drunk. But is it
able to transcend such a diverse cast and become greater than the sum
of its parts?
Holy
fuck, yes. This is as simultaneously focused and expansive a platter
of tracks that Stephen Ellison has ever put together. Everything
flows so seamlessly together that the nineteen compositions seem to
be one long, continuously changing electronica-jazz symphony. Feel
free to imagine whatever breathless and exaggerated expressions of
excitement, wonder, and joy you like here, as I like to keep my
reviews short, and there aren't enough synonyms for “totally
fucking awesome” in the thesaurus to get the point across of how
fantastic this album is. Ellison might have a lot of very famous and
talented friends helping him out here, but his singular vision is by
far the most arresting element of YD!
While passages on several tracks definitely feel improvised, there is
nothing random about how everything here is put together. Be warned,
though: once you start listening to this record, you won't be able to
stop. I've already listened to it four times today.
reviewed
by Richard Krueger
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