Ben Mono, with his debut album DUAL, throws a monkey wrench in the otherwise smooth Compost future jazz machine. In Mono’s case in particular, the wrench is some funky electro broken-beats. That’s not to say that Mono can’t do future jazz as good as the rest of them. But while “Suburban Resident” is a fine slab of downtempo, just the right mix of jazziness, beats and vocals, “Talking Navigator” and “Plastik Passion” take out the vocals (except for a few grunts and mumbles) and emphasize the rhythm. “Tired” mixes both the torch jazz with the more abstract beats. Bajka, who previously worked her magic with Beanfield, does the same for Mr. Mono. You certainly won’t be a two minds about DUAL.
Ben Mono, with his debut album DUAL, throws a monkey wrench in the otherwise smooth Compost future jazz machine. In Mono’s case in particular, the wrench is some funky electro broken-beats. That’s not to say that Mono can’t do future jazz as good as the rest of them. But while “Suburban Resident” is a fine slab of downtempo, just the right mix of jazziness, beats and vocals, “Talking Navigator” and “Plastik Passion” take out the vocals (except for a few grunts and mumbles) and emphasize the rhythm. “Tired” mixes both the torch jazz with the more abstract beats. Bajka, who previously worked her magic with Beanfield, does the same for Mr. Mono. You certainly won’t be a two minds about DUAL.