Chris Joss - Teraphonic Overdubs (2008)

If Lalo Schifrin is your idea of rock & roll, and if your idea of fun is sitting around watching cheesy movies from the '60s and cheerfully doing the swim while bell-bottomed boys with bowl haircuts play cheerfully wanky psychedelic music, and if you just can't get enough of that faux sitar sound, then the French producer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Joss is your man. You have to give him this: he knows what he likes, and what he likes is the kind of music that goes along with 40-year-old car chase scenes and Blaxploitation movies, muscled up here and there with deft turntablism and hip-hop breakbeats. He also likes easy-listening flutes and wordless "ba-ba-ba-baaaaah" vocals in tight harmony, and harpsichords. Once you hear the first track ("Magic Tubes") you'll know exactly what to expect from the rest of the album, although one or two subsequent tunes may take you by surprise -- notice how heavy the beats are on "I Want Freedom," for example, and notice how the cloddish 12/8 rhythm on "Jungle Dolls" brings to mind a less eerie and more uptempo version of "Rock & Roll." Also notice how subtly "Summer Springs" evokes the Beatles and how unsubtly "Surgelator Action" evokes the Headhunters. Not especially original, but very nice. ~ Rick Anderson --