Wagon Christ
Tally Ho!
(Astralwerks)
I once read in an interview with Luke Vibert (aka Wagon Christ and Plug) in which he said that if he were able to, there's nothing he would like to do more than release one album a week. Fortunately for him, he's found an arrangement that allows him to get closer to this reality than most other artists. Like a lot of other electronic outfits, he records under different pseudonyms, and is actually signed to different labels under each of them. In the past couple years alone, he's released 5 full-length albums, as well as a slew of singles, and has even managed to do some remix work for bands like Tortoise, Nine Inch Nails, Ruby, and others.
He's a busy guy, but it doesn't show in the quality of his work, which is always above-average fair. While under the moniker of Plug, his work is more on the drill and bass side, as Wagon Christ he's a bit more funky. While there is a bit of genre-crossing, as in songs such as "Rendleshack" and "Workout," for the most part, this is a laid-back blip-hop excursion. On "Lovely," he creates a funky track around an old cheezy record sample, and on "Piano Playa Hata," the beat lobs over banged-out piano scrabblings.
The entire album has a fun feel that is only echoed in completely silly tracks such as "Juicy Luke Vibert" and "The End." Still, it's a very solid electronic release that manages to genre-blur every chance it gets and keep the listener on their toes. One of the must-have electronic releases for 1998.
Rating: 7.5
