Felipe + Forte

2002 marked the year psychedelic and electronic music melded into one blissfully serene and chaotically intense new form that has since been labelled by some as pixel-psych. The album that marked the occasion was Beaches and Canyons by Brooklyn purveyors Black Dice, and the music world has been a far more interesting place ever since, with notables such as Excepter, Gang Gang Dance and Axolotl rising out of the ensuing stratosphere. Shaggy Black, the intriguing debut by duo Felipe + Forte (from Miami and Brooklyn, respectively), is further attestation of Beaches and Canyons’ impact. Awash in an impenetrable and shape-shifting blend of glitch electronics and noisy ambience that combine into a mind-altering psychedelic experience, Shaggy Black trots about Black Dice territory with wit and whimsy. Occasionally building enough steam to trigger intense mental electrodes, it never quite nears the pounding ethereal heights of their inspiration, though it is nevertheless an intriguing and extremely modern experience.