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Raoul Sinier

Brain Kitchen

(Ad Noiseam; US: 29 Apr 2008; UK: 26 May 2008; Germany release date: 9 Apr 2008)

Three albums in and Parisian Renaissance man Raoul Sinier is hitting his stride. Stylistically, Brain Kitchen hits roughly the same glitch-hop/IDM turf as 2007’s Wxfdswxc2 (released by the now sadly defunct Sublight under the name Ra), but there are a couple of important differences. For one, the rudimentary metal guitar and general rock aesthetic that weighed down his previous album is almost completely absent here, overlooking a little bass, and his programming is that much more precise and punchy. With glitch as abstract as what he’s going for—the same kind lauded by the likes of Mochipet and Venetian Snares—finding the right balance between confusion, calamity, atmosphere, and groove is what separates the cult heroes from the noise bastards. Make no mistake, Brain Kitchen announces the presence of Raoul Sinier in the league of Miguel Depedro (kid606) and Guillermo Scott Herren (Prefuse 73, Savath + Savalas) as leaders of the circuit bending fusion of hip-hop bravado and broken electronics.

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Greetings, brothers and sisters. Like most of you reading this, I'm a fan of music. I spend most of my time researching, investigating, making, and exploring music. Since 2004, my concert and album reviews, essays, and columns have appeared in publications such as Tiny Mix Tapes, PopMatters, Exclaim!, and I've been a Polaris Music Prize juror since 2010. I will graduate with a BFA in music from the Contemporary Arts program at Simon Fraser University in October of 2011. I am happy to live in East Vancouver with my sketchy but sweet cat Isobel Dewsabelski.


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