The LA Times Music Blog did a preview of my show at Low End Theory tonight and had some great things to say!!
The bunker of Boulder, Colo.-based Alex B is (presumably) stashed somewhere in the pine-shrouded shadows of the Rocky Mountains, but Los Angeles operates as an alternative laboratory for his smoke-stained, broken beats. A fixture at Lincoln Heights’ Low End Theory, Alex Botwin dropped “Moments” on his own Elm & Oak imprint but turned to local imprint Alpha Pup for distribution — a wise move considering his fractured but funky sonics put him in line with peers like Nosaj Thing, Take, and Free the Robots.
Of course, Los Angeles’ emergence as a beat import and export hub is no longer a secret, with a recent Top 10 list from Thom Yorke dominated by Low End Theory-affiliated artists. And British dance music maven Mary Anne Hobbs just announced a monthlong “Volcano Refugee Party” in the city, hosting the next two weeks of her BBC1Xtra show with ministrations from the near-entirety of the Alpha Pup and Brainfeeder rosters.
Headlining Wednesday’s Low End Theory along with Ninja Tune-signed King Cannibal, Alex B might not sport a ZIP code that starts with “9-0,” but the West Coast sound is ingrained in his interstellar inclinations and ruthlessly blunted beats. In advance of the performance, Pop & Hiss is premiering “Getting to Know You,” a song that encompasses the breadth of “Moments” — a stunning collection of discrete sequences that lives up to its ambitious nomenclature.
Bookended by Lilla D’mone’s buoyant coo, “Getting to Know You” is partly trip-hop reinvented for the medical marijuana set, partly a phosphorous ball of energy, compacted with gently curving synths and giddy drum patterns. Like the album itself, it’s a wonderful contradiction: simultaneously despondent and danceable, brooding and brightly lit, the sort of record best listened to in the occult hours, buried underneath an avalanche of elements — whether chemical or climatic.
CHECK IT OUT AT LA TIMES HERE: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/04/getting-to-know-alex-b-colorado-producer-plays-low-end-theory-debuts-exclusive-mp3.html