Search - Isotope 217 :: Who Stole the i Walkman?

Isotope 217
Who Stole the i Walkman?
Genre: Jazz

Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
1. Harm-O-Lodge
2. Space Krikts
3. Meta Bass
4. Moonlex
5. Kidtronix
6. Moot Ang
7. Sint_D
8. Input

CD Details

All Artists: Isotope 217
Title: Who Stole the i Walkman?
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Phantom Sound & Vision
Release Date: 11/27/2000
Album Type: Extra tracks, Import
Genre: Jazz
Style:
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 766485946324

Synopsis

Amazon.com

Chicago's Isotope 217 sounds like a designation on the periodic table of the elements, but it's actually an art-groove collective that features members of Tortoise, Chicago Underground Trio (and the similarly named Chicago Underground Duo), and others. Guitarist Jeff Parker and cornetist Rob Mazurek provide melodic through lines to the material, giving the listener a foothold. When drummers Dan Bitney and John Herndon take the lead, the music becomes a spare, dubby dance workout. When all five get on the same page, however, letting Matthew Lux build a groove, the band really takes it up a notch. The music gains a purpose and the energy goes through the roof. The best example here is "Moog Ang," where the group simultaneously builds outward, free-jazz explorations piling atop a slow melodic line. Less groove-oriented than the group's other two albums (The Unstable Molecule and Utonian Automatic), Who Stole the I Walkman? still makes for interesting listening--it's just that the band has changed into something more experimental and cerebral. --Tad Hendrickson

CD Reviews

Less focused

Matthew D. Mercer | Chicago, IL United States | 08/11/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Isotope 217's first release, "The Unstable Molecule," is a definitive staple in post-rock annals. The follow-up, "Utonian_Automatic," lacked the smoothness of the debut, but what it lacked in that area it made up for in terms up improvisational spirit. This newest release from 217 sounds like they are experimenting more, but the overall aesthetic is less finished, more like a batch of random ideas and experiments and less like a complete work of art. There are more electronic gadgets and effects floating throughout the mix, which further widens the ever increasing gap between 217 and Tortoise comparisons. The only real clunker is the tenth track (""

If it's not jazz, what is it?

d. Taylor Singletary | 08/08/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"So the last two albums have most certainly been jazz - another level of jazz, but still jazz. But what is this that we have here? We have all the elements of jazz -- thrown in with all the usual elements that the boys and girls and whatevers have been known to throw in, but this time what comes out is an insane abstraction into the world of sound art. Perhaps its most concrete moment is in one of the greatest abstractions of all, the rewind song, "

Notional Bypass

Dirk Hugo | Cape Town, South Africa | 03/06/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album has been maligned by many for being less focused than earlier Isotope efforts and for not offering more specific clues regarding the ongoing fusion of jazz and electronica. True, it is a more shapeless affair with a decidedly schizophrenic agenda, but it is these aspects which establish the album's unique merits. "Who Stole.." is essentially an uncharismatic index of musical possibilities, drifting in and out of locked grooves and avant-jazz motifs and overlaying them with an eclectic selection of organically generated cut-and-paste interludes. It provides a more subtle challenge to pervading ideas about stylistic juxtaposition, less concerned with the shock and entertainment potential inherent in such an exercise and more confident that its wide-ranging forays and contrasts will achieve lasting appeal. Don't expect any answers, only intrigueing questions."