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OOIOO, "KILA KILA KILA"
The third full-length album from Yoshimi P-We's female rock quartet, Kila Kila Kila refuses to immediately deliver the goods as generously or bountifully as their previous two albums of densely layered psychedelia. Green and Gold and Feather Float were jam-packed with kaleidoscopic melodies and shimmering guitars, creating thick syrupy whirlpools of hypnotic grooves with saccharine group harmonies and bright, sparkling production. Kila Kila Kila is a more difficult proposition, with Yoshimi P-We veering away from her pop tendencies, preferring instead to emphasize the more abstract and improvisatory elements of her music.
"Ene Soda" is a sparse call-and-response between Yoshimi's sporadic electric guitar wallops and an array of twinkling bells and effervescent percussion. "Suzuki Ring Neng" takes a cue from Asa Chang and Junray, slowly developing out of clipped phonetic utterances and looped percussive retorts, finally exploding into a luminous Kraut-prog jam, complete with a mesmerizing bassline and chirping synthesizers. OOIOO takes a crack at Tortoise-style post-rock instrumentalism with the energetic jazz of "On Mani," driven by a pount-counterpoint conversation between trumpets and two lively drummers. "Northern Lights" is another extended jazz-rock improvisation, with some oddly mutated vocals and Yamatsuka Eye-trademarked birdcalls forming competing textures. "Aster" is something again entirely again, a 15-minute disparate avant-rock exploration featuring guitar melodies that seem to quote freely from traditional Japanese folk styles, echoed in delicious vocal harmonies that float cloudlike over the driving rhythms. It's hard to say exactly why I don't have the same affection for Kila Kila Kila as I have had for OOIOO's previous albums. It's certainly marvelously produced, with each instrument crisply resonating, each part intertwining into a complex whole. Compared to their past work, however, it feels a little thin and underdeveloped, perhaps a result of Yoshimi's new emphasis on improvisation and away from studio multitracking. That said, it's still a fine album by a talented group that are probably incapable of making anything other than buoyant and adventurous music. 
