Raoul Sinier: Brain Kitchen

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.