KZA

Japan's KZA marks his solo debut with the release of Dig and Edit, an adventurous album with rampant experimentation and energetic compositions. Well known as one of the biggest vinyl collectors in the country, KZA pulls much of the album's influences from old records, almost in the fashion of the Avalanches' Since I Left You, but with loads of obscurity. Dig and Edit plays heavily with atmospheric groundwork but can't move past its starting point. With the exception of opening tack "Aneugalam," a mid-tempo disco throwback steeped in funk and rife with wah-wah pedal and brass, and "On&On&On," a high-energy house track, Dig and Edit can't break free from its linear progression. KZA abandons the rich exploration that initially hooks for airy, minimal tracks with subtle layering, essentially limiting the disc's progression.