dOP - The Genius Of The Crowd

A1 The Genius Of The Crowd
A2 Mambo Jumbo
B1 Mambo Jumbo (Guy Gerber's Hemloete Remix)

Earlier this year Philip Sherburne wrote that dOP's stacked harmonies were getting a bit predictable. As if to answer the call, their latest 12-inch—and first for Guy Gerber's Supplement Facts imprint—doesn't have one to speak of. Instead, we get American poet Charles Bukowski reciting one of his better works—one full of the bile and hatred that made him famous among college kids the world over.

The trio foregrounds the reading of "The Genius of the Crowd" upon a backing track that features plenty of deconstructed female vocal utterances, a riff happy symphony and the same sort of organic house beat that has put them on the map over the past year. And, eventually, a bassline to die for comes in and ties it all together. It's exactly the sort of thing that proves the trio's range and humor can remain intact—vocals or not.

"Mambo Jumbo" heads up the flip and it's a less powerful statement of intent, rolling on brushed jazz drums, a violin note repeated ad infinitum and horns. Unlike "Genius," it mostly runs in place, waiting for a magical bassline to take it to the same sort of nirvana of its predecessor. Guy Gerber's rework of the tune straightens things out and attempts to make it work for the floor. It does that nicely—and while it doesn't sound all that special in the context of the release (who would next to dOP?), it should go down as a unique track full of the lovely little aforementioned bits of sonic filigree when played out in a set full of more straight-ahead material...www.residentadvisor.net