Curtis Bay

I imagine ...Earth Attacks is what it would sound like if El-P were to record a drum & bass album for Wordsound. Oakland's Curtis Bay starts each song off with a small selection of illbient sounds and samples, which he twists and distorts, weaving in new samples as he goes in order to construct his densely layered, glitch-y drum & bass beats, with a side serving of bass-heavy hip-hop. The result is 13 tracks of dark dance floor fodder, with each punch-the-air, adrenalin-boosting track triumphantly rising and falling on its inevitable trip towards a final climatic conclusion. Added to the instrumental structure are affected and sped up vocal samples taken from old TV shows and movies, rap and reggae records, and soft rock song "Drift Away," which is the cornerstone of closing track "Gimme the Beat Boys." In addition to that last track, which involves some wicked vocal manipulations, standout tracks in this damn fine collection include "Bank Account," a light honky tonk barnstormer that evolves into a heavily-manipulated drum & bass stomper, along with oddly named epic "Aaron Works at Taco Bell" and the spacey "Pluto," two songs better suited to slow dancing (but with a fast dance finish) due to their slow-to-build airiness. ...Earth Attacks leaves you longing for a dirty warehouse dance floor.