Nifty

Much loved T-dot outfit Les Mouches may be gone but their individual parts sure seem to be working out. Of course, we’re all familiar with Owen Pallett’s Final Fantasy and his looped violin antics. Now Nifty (aka Matt Smith) is demonstrating he’s no slouch either with the genre busting A Sparrow! A Sparrow! Right from the start, Smith attacks melody, rhythm and noise from an array of different angles. "Turn Into You” has an inviting, shuffling groove accented by Smith’s sampled squeaks. On the aptly named "Bells Bowls Hats Lids,” he enlists the help of fellow Mouche Rob Gordon to create a mesmerising, tinkling bubble of found percussion. Gears are then swiftly changed as he presents the psych doo-wop folk of "Tinto De Verano.” This smorgasbord of approaches does compromise cohesiveness, rendering the record more sampler pack than album. But besides the wandering "A Sparrow!,” there’s nary a loser in this document of Smith’s formidable, unrestrained instincts.