There’s a head-nods-back propulsion to “Hitchhiker” that will remind some of Luomo’s “Market”—not necessarily that track’s sprawl but definitely its rubber. What’s a shame is that Minilogue didn’t drop this five years ago, when he could stick wriggles and wraggles and other hard techno accents on top of a pretty straightforward kick, without getting compared unfavorably to, say, the Perlon camp, specifically something like Melchior Production’s “Different Places,” which musically and rhythmically doesn’t even sound like it’s from this planet. Poor “Hitchhiker” is just stable, serviceable tech-funk next to that stuff, but that’s no knock: lots of space here, unafraid of melody or familiarity or even a set of shitty computer speakers. Call me blasphemous, but the extra color actually makes the more so-called forward thinking stuff seem too ascetic, no fun. Hear hear, a compromise.

Crosstown Rebels / CRM 030
[Nick Sylvester]