Photo courtesy of artist
Ahead of its release next week on Break World Records, Brooklyn-based producer Bookworms (aka Nicholas Dawson) has shared his new album, Appropriation Loops.The LP follows his 2016 full-length debut, Xenophobe, but deviates from its predecessor's psychedelic, dancefloor-friendly techno. Though still trippy, its six tracks (including the titular, 20-minute-long opener) lean more towards experimental mood pieces, each an intricate tapestry of shadowy sounds and layers, looped and woven tightly into one another.A press release defines the album's title as "recurrent, fluctuant feedback loops in popular and unpopular culture." In other words, it's about appropriation being flipped back on itself. One example given is Detroit's Motown sound in the 60s and 70s being filtered through the mechanistic lens of German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk, whose own music influenced 80s Detroit techno.
"Detroit techno," the statement adds, "could never have been without the device of appropriation…but the device is often misused. People want to know where their chicken comes from (free range, grass-fed, no antibiotics), but they don't want to know where their music comes from."Stream Appropriation Loops below before its release on June 16, and pre-order the album here.
2. Walled Garden
3. Graffiti Pits
4. Oakland06
5. What Are Your Mixed With?
6. Skin Of My Teeth
Appropriation Loops Tracklist:
1. Appropriation Loops
2. Walled Garden
3. Graffiti Pits
4. Oakland06
5. What Are Your Mixed With?
6. Skin Of My Teeth