xl recordings

A short teaser single release to prime us for the forthcoming Capitol K full-length--which is actually just an elaborate reworking of his second album on Planet Mu--Pillow is a damned catchy track. Damned catchy. Doot-doot-doot and then some.

Using Capitol K's excellent understanding of how to integrate guitars with computers, and still retain the verse-chorus-verse pop strategy, the song is practically begging for underground radio play. Underground, of course, because we're assuming the artist is well past his teen-pop-princess days.

The 12-inch features two remixes of the title track, including one by Luke Vibert, which sounds, well, like a Luke Vibert remix. It's got the ubiquitous bouncy bassline and the off-kilter rhythms one might expect from such an endeavor, which creates a strange sense of disconnect with the song's original poppy source material. Almost as though Wagon Christ has rejected the conventions of pop music, while still seeming to employ them on the surface, we're left with an unsettling ride through a mishmash of funk and Britpop.

Leafcutter John, also from the Planet Mu roster, takes a break from his microsound work to turn in a startingly conventional sounding take on the IDM camp. The song's original vocals have been stripped, and the focus is instead on the synthetic harmonies of somber electronic pop. Which is a far cry from Britpop.

Finally, we're presented with the excellent--and we do mean EXCELLENT--"Capitol Beat Sticky (Posh mix)." This track is irresistible in its celebration of Aphex-styled beats and glittery vocal elements. Who would have known, back when we were listening to his work on the obscure Belgian label Elf Cuts, that such a master of pop lay hidden in the backwoods of electronica?