As Weird as Iowa

Review: Nimby “Flotation Device”/Dubdrip “Smoke-tinged Perception” – Detrivore Cassingle Series


Nimby is Brendan O’Keefe, who is also the man behind Detrivore, and therefore could have easily put out any old totally weak piece of his own. Instead, this track is about three minutes of damn-near-godliness, especially on a good system that lets the warmth really shine. Kicks in with a slightly echoey, laid-back groove, out of which blossoms these incredible bell tones sketching a melody loop. The melody throughout this is totally sublime, and I’m pretty unsure how he does this, since the entire project is based on drum triggers made out of margarine tubs. Anyway, a few moments in and suddenly there are some monstrous booms, like the rocket’s leaving for Marz – and congratulations, so are you.

Darren Ho is a friend of mine, and I love his work with Racoo-oo-oon, his techno-ey stuff (with Nimby) in Cuticle, and, based on what little I’ve heard, his Drip House solo tapes. He’s a really talented guy, and a dedicated artist. Sadly, this side as Driphouse does not represent him well. The Nimby side takes some of the best parts of dub –the echoes, the warmth – and puts an intriguing spin on it; by contrast, Dripdub pretty much takes off from the idea that reggae as a whole is a punchline; from the weed-joke title to the repetitive casio-preset baseline to the absurd fake-Jamaican accent of the vocals, the outcome is pretty tough to listen to. The track just feels incredibly tossed-off, and is frankly a bit of a disservice to the brilliant work that backs it up.

When I listen to this tape I pretty much just rewind the Nimby side repeatedly. It’s still totally worth owning.