Isaiah "Ikey" Owens is best known as the keyboardist (and founding member) of El Paso post-punk wackos the Mars Volta, which seems a bit insolent when you take a look at his entire body of work. Control This, the second LP from jazzy/spazzy trip-hop four-piece Free Moral Agents, shows Owens reaching far into the depths of heavily-stylized art, as vocalist Mendee Ichikawa drops amorphous, pocket-sized melodies over a very Ikey-like psychedelic backdrop. Like the Mars Volta, Free Moral Agents' sound comes off exceedingly rubbery, complex and dense, but the floating, electro-tinged lullabies of "Gem From a Broken Rock," paired with the funky spoken-word breakdowns of "Girls With Glasses Only Please," and the hip-hop meets prog-rock cover of Sonic Youth's "Little Trouble Girl" show just how hard Owens and Free Moral Agents work at sounding worldly, otherworldly and worthy.
(Chocolate Industries)Free Moral Agents
Control This
BY Daniel SylvesterPublished Nov 22, 2010