Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid

- MUSIC REVIEWS

Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) and Steve Reid (who has beat skins for Sun Ra, James Brown, Fela Kuti, and Miles Davis) have collaborated in various forms over the past few years, starting with the Exchange Sessions in 2006 and most recently on Reid's recent release Daxaar . NYC , their new collaborative effort, finds the duo documenting the feel and vibe of New York City through sound collage, utilizing a surprising tool mostly absent from their previous collaborations: pop music. While far from easy listening, the mechanics of NYC sound positively pastoral, and the interplay between Reid and Hebden, formerly spastic and indebted to the free-est of jazz, is now melodic, the give and pull of the rhythmic forces against the melodic textures gentler, and the songs more likely to cause subtle head-bobbing and confused stares. To quoth my buddy who wandered into my radio room whilst reviewing and listening, "Dude, this sounds like some Adult Swim shit."...