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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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Ranta is a music geek from East Vancouver. He spends most of his time researching, procuring, listening to, and writing about music. Since 2004, his work has appeared in such publications as Exclaim!, CBC Music, Tiny Mix Tapes, and PopMatters, and he has been a Polaris Music Prize juror since 2010. He graduated from SFU's Contemporary Arts program with a BFA in music in Summer 2011.


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