Idiom Creak

Jeez, how did this one sneak by? Jet-Powered, Monkey-Navigated was released earlier this year, having been elaborately assembled by Davis resident Michael Rosen, a.k.a. Ehmie, over the previous four years. Weaving is perhaps as an appropriate a metaphor as can be found; these sonic tapestries have been artfully woven from strings of sound and fragments of music into compelling aural travelogues. These range from throbbing road trips through exotic locales—the North African-sounding “Zanuba,” for instance—to languid, meditative trips like the sitar-laced “Paved Volcano Blasts,” which builds from a dream to a racket. Even though the disc’s cover instructs: “File Under: Headphone Hip-Hop,” the music enclosed is decidedly more psychedelic and dreamlike—think DJ Shadow, with less of a funk bent and more of a textural approach borrowed from the better world-beat ensembles. A brilliant recording.