Moonstarr

Kevin Moon (aka Moonstarr) is often recognised as one of the most innovative electronic beat-makers in Canada, despite the fact that he's officially made only one record in the last four years; 1997's seminal Hexed EP. He's spent his hiatus running his label, Public Transit Recordings, and helping to break the acts like Abacus, Lal, Monochrome and others onto the indie-electronic stage. Dupont, nevertheless, picks up where things left off, reintroducing listeners to Moon's post-junglist, beat-damaging production style. The tracks "Duplex" and "Greed" express those qualities best, with their hard-bop breaks and jerky cut-ups, while "Dust" takes things to the extreme with edits that make your Discman sound like it needs a cleaning. There's rawness here and it's cool, except when it's so explosive that some of it comes off as abrasive and unrefined. The balance is reset on the other parts of the disc where Moon explores subtler textures with elements of techno and funk. "The Electro Trio" and "Working Man's Hustle" sound like an electronic band jamming through different grooves in a booze-can of the future, while "Interplanetary Thoughts In Flight" features Moon on the mic, vocoding a robotic rhyme of inspiration in the spirit of "Planet Rock." The six tracks are supplemented with almost as many interludes, featuring phone messages over Moon's beats, which then divert to other interludes to showcase the beats that his friends have left on the answering machine. A good indication demonstrating that not only is Moon still in fine form, but that there's more to come from his mates as well.