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Keef Baker, "Redeye"
With so-called intelligent dance music still inexplicably directionless to the point of being neutered and de-legitimized, purveyors of this once-promising sound seem to be throwing the kitchen sink at the problem in desperation. Emblematic of this rut, this pleasant and schizophrenic album attempts to embody an entire record collection's worth of influences, resulting in something neither fish nor fowl.
Describing Redeye feels largely like a grand exercise in futility that doesn’t even offer the simple satisfaction of burned calories. I could sweat over the material here in exhaustive detail for some time, only to find that, at the end of it all, my words make less sense than the record I aimed to explain. Take any given track and a panoply of genres and subgenres are bound to graze the skull, from the electro-symphonic video game orchestras of "Bobfoc" to the folktronica-infused drill n bass of "The Only Way." "Derbyshire Dark" spends much of its first half teasing with dreamy floating electronics before kicking into high gear with a straightforward 4/4 power noise rhythm. Of course, Baker refuses to offer up the satisfaction of a hedonistic dance track, and quickly removes the beat from circulation, ultimately replacing it with a head-nodding groove that he can hardly stand to let breathe for very long. This apparent impatience, coupled with the aforementioned kitchen sink approach, makes it hard to enjoy the best moments of this CD without being suddenly deprived of satisfaction in what eventually starts to seem like some cruel post-Pavlovian game.
Redeye smells of the carefree disregard of a Rephlex record, though in fairness nowhere near as pretentious and preposterous in execution. One gets the impression that Baker is more likely down-to-earth than up his own ass, something than cannot be said for many in Richard D. James' unreliable stable. I suspect that anyone who has listened to an album at any point in their life will enjoy at least two minutes of this CD. Still, despite my cited complaints, those with ridiculously eclectic tastes or an untreated case of A.D.D. may find the album just what their iPod Shuffle demands.
