Eccodek

Within the five-year stretch that Andrew Mcpherson has been recording as Eccodek, his sound has progressed from an ambient dub take on world fusion to a tougher sound with this newest disc. On Shivaboom, his loping, mid-tempo breaks dominate every song. Though this is a 60-minute head-nodding workout, these songs aren’t exactly funky, they just reinforce beats two and four so that any number of exotic ingredients fall right into place. It’s not obvious at first but upon closer inspection re-sampled Kaoss pad dub effects add effective abstraction to the mix. However, even with the presence of strong vocalists like Meral Mert and Kiran Ahluwalia these songs have a tendency to blend into one another with their unfailingly steady vibe. "When The Bird Calls” breaks ranks from the set with its one-drop foundation, adding a much needed rhythmic hiccup. There’s no weak spot on this disc but no especially strong one either. This won’t let down any mix but it’s not the peak of the night either.