Gary Steel
FANS OF DIPLO and the Brainfeeder label aesthetic are sure to enjoy this groovy mishmash/collage and, despite doubts about its ultimate artistic veracity, I found myself still sitting on the sweet spot to the bitter end, because unlike so much of this stuff (which is generally horribly lo-fi), it’s been mixed and mastered quite well. Oh, and it’s quite short.
Thanks For Trying starts out sounding like swinging library/incidental music for some early ‘70s TV party scene, and it has those fluty grooves that crate diggers everywhere will recognise. Its 15 songs are all short enough to avoid having to evolve compositionally, which to me is just a lazy cop-out. But that could be said of any Diplo or Brainfeeder record.
So, what’s he doing to his samples? Well, there are those convulsing, bulbous hip-hop-style bass blobs, and the odd wretched string sample that’s intentionally beamed in from Planet Distortion. Then there are swirling synths and cribs from unexpected places: ‘Wig’ gets part of its palette from Emerson Lake & Palmer’s ‘Take A Pebble’, from that group’s self-titled 1971 debut.
Enjoyable but underwhelming, Thanks For Trying is an album for which proponents will probably claim added depth that this reviewer can’t quite see. Horses for courses, I suppose. GARY STEEL
Music = 3/5
Sound = 3.5/5
