Secret Mommy

This shouldn’t be so good! Taking the concept of "found sounds” and cranking it full of digital technology and, surprisingly, soul, this is a collection of songs made from sources such as late night soccer games and ice rinks. And for once, this approach actually sounds like music. It’s glitch-y, jumpy sound is what My Way would have sounded like had Akufen had turned off the radio and made micro-house using, well, pretty much every other sound known to man. "Dance Studio” (yes, the sounds of a dance studio) is the standout track here, too herky-jerky to be a radio or club hit, but a very nice melodic tune nonetheless, with a guitar line holding things down over an ever-changing beat, while horns bounce around in the background. This is kind of a novelty album, true, but really, how often does a music critic get to say that a novelty album is actually worth buying? None of these tracks are predictable in any way, shape or form, which is fitting, because nobody could have predicted that any of this would be as good as it is.