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Richard H. Kirk Meets The Truck Bombers of Suburbia, "Uptown Vol 1," feat. Pat Riot
Throughout 2004, the typically prolific Richard H. Kirk dug deep into his vault, releasing several discs and twelve inches of previously unavailable solo material. Still, after 2003's politically charged albums The War Against Terrorism and The Bush Doctrine, likeminded fans seemed eager for more new work amidst the increasingly bloody Iraq quagmire and the rhetoric-heavy U.S. presidential election campaigns.
Thankfully, Kirk's creative juices and frustration with the state of the world birthed this diverse yet cohesive collection of forward-thinking music from the former Cabaret Voltaire member. Though the title is an overt nod to King Tubby, Kirk doesn't let that restrict him from showcasing work encompassing various genre influences, regularly within the same song. The opener, titled "The Truck Bombers Of Suburbia", exhibits this eclecticism at its most extreme, with awkwardly looped and heavily effected samples of classic rock, funk, and dub abruptly clashing with one another. Previously released as a 12" single, the grinding quasi-dancehall track "Who's Afraid (Of The Red White And Blue)" sets the tone for this largely nasty, aggressive album and introduces listeners to vocalist Pat Riot, who I can only assume is yet another entry in Kirk's lengthy list of pseudonyms. (Rather than confuse readers further, Kirk and Riot will be treated as separate entities for the duration of the review.) Riot's distorted voice can also be heard growling midway through the handclap-heavy dark techno number "Smoke Em Out," a reference to George W. Bush's blunt yet unsuccessful approach to dealing with Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. "Goat Dub Reaction" mixes Middle Eastern melodies and keyboard strings and pulses over looped hand percussion rhythms, with the occasional vocal from Riot. On "Desert Rhumba," Kirk updates the classic Sheffield bleep sound he helped define, with a gritty synth riff driving a litany of furious protest chants. "Heart And Mind Of Dub" closes things out with a relatively traditional dub groove, its instrumentation augmented with liberal use of echo chamber delay and even a noisy remnant from earlier on the album. Despite the diverse influences represented here, this is a remarkably complete release, with the vocals effectively holding several tracks together that may have seemed too different otherwise. As an eager follower of Kirk's recent output, I can say that this is his most accessible album in some time, and the best so far of his post-9/11 work. I cannot help but wonder what would happen if only other electronic artists, particularly those of the younger generation, would follow his lead and use their music to speak against injustice, hypocrisy, or whatever specific issue concerns them. Call me what you will, but if this is the type of music that war and right-wing global politics can spawn, then we need a lot more of it. Get cracking, people.
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