The UK fun loving duo is back with a CD and a DVD with a music video of each track on the album, this has to be cutting edge or is it?

Hexstatic – Masterview (Ninja Tune)

The geniuses that are known as Hexstatic, who are made up of two Brits, one named Stuart Warren Hill and the other named Robin Brunson. They have been making music since 1995 in some form or the other and they have always been at the forefront of the industry, in some way. So they decided that they would go a step further with this new CD, they did eleven tracks and then they included a DVD in this package (it also comes with some ultra kewl 3D shades), which contains a music video of each song. This is certainly not ordinary.

Hexstatic – Masterview (Ninja Tune)

1.Extra Life
2.Chase Me
3.Telemetron
4.L-Virata
5.Perfect Bird (Hexstatic vs. Guitar Vader)
6.Salvador (feat. Organic Audio)
7.Living
8.Distorted Mind (Feat. Juice Aleem)
9.That Track
10.Toys Are Us
11.Pulse

1.Extra Life

The CD starts off with a song that has more of an 80’s edge, it reminds me of Robert Smit for some reason. The song is driven by a harmonic organ that seems to utilize some unique melodies that really make me happy. The organ is backed by a solid drumline and the 80’s sound is rampant here. About midway into track one, Hexstatic seem to throw a monkeywrench (ignore the Foo Fighters connection) and a Chinese sounding riff comes in and if you played Gameboy, the sound is very similar in certain respects to Mario Land level 4-1. This song then goes back to the original form before it fades into obscurity.

2.Chase Me

Song numero deux begins with a boat like horn noise and it gives “Chase Me” that “What the heck is going on sensation” to the song but that’s a good thing. We have traffic sound effects that filter in from the back that add to the madness, it reminds me of Lemon Jelly at times. You have that downtempo jazz that creeps in, about twenty seconds later. Some cool organ keys then start to join in this madness that is shaping up. A joyous flute then comes in and it leads the madness to a feverish peak, till the song gently fades.

3.Telemetron

A weird sample starts track three, with a rant about technology. A familiar instrument then joins in, it is an organ. The track immediately heads into an even more old skool sensation and we ditch the 90’s and the 80’s and head, into (gasp!) yes that’s it the 1970’s. The organ is filtered here and you get that weird Mr.Scruff type track (also a Ninja Tune artist). Some spaced out noises start to get going and it continues till near the end, when a weird sample shows up to end the track.

4.L-Virata

Hexstatic seem content with using some old skool themes in their music and this is only the first three tracks. It starts electro but it has more of that 80’s influence in terms of style, it uses makes tremendous use of some well situated bass stabs. The electro direction reminds me of TCR at times and when the old skool style funk kicks in about 2 minutes in, the track gains a groovy atmosphere. The track then heads for more of the downtempo jazz funk that Gilles Peterson would play. “L-Virata” is truly weird but it shows that Hexstatic are not afraid to experiment.

5.Perfect Bird

I think the Brits added a double meaning with this song title but not many will catch it. An electronic piano starts song five and some drums immediately join the fray. This is more of a different direction, where the first few songs were downtempo jazz or just plain leftfield, this is completely on another level. The song starts to pick up steam but then an instrument comes in and like lots of EDM of late, it contains what no producer seems to not want to experiment with, yes that’s right, it is a guitar!. The bassline solidifies then a Japanese vocal comes in, the way she sings is nice but you cannot understand a word that she says. This is just completely off the wall and yes I do have an open mind with music but this is completely weird and it leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

6.Salvador

As we try to forget the madness of “Perfect Bird”, we head to Salvador, which bar one song, this album has been quite good. Salvador is a latin house song that stretches into more of tribal house at times. You have the Spanish instruments that add that latin flavor but then the drum line gets harder and deeper and more percussion is added and you have that tribal feel. The song contains some Latin chants in the background, it adds a real worldly flavor to this album. Nice variation Hexstatic!

7.Living

As we near the end of the middle part of what has been a good album bar one vocal in one song, we hit “Living” at track number seven. A movie style drum roll opening gets this baby going and some fast electronic riffs, almost like bleeps at times quickly get thrown in. The bassline is made by a quick drum machine and it keeps the tempo quite high here. Some spaced out sound effects are thrown in, just to complete this song and something about this track screams out “Groove Armada”. They add flutes to the background near the halfway point but this is another nice variation in a pretty solid album so far.

8.Distorted Minds

I must be the only person in the world or maybe I’m not that just does not get Juice Aleem and what’s he is trying to do with his lyrics. I’m sure the man is very talented but when Hexstatic added him to a track, I cringed and it turns out that I was right. Distorted Minds is a very slow track and uses Juice Aleem’s rapping to drive it but you get turned off by his rapping and it makes you want to skip the track (which I never do in reviews). I’m sure that Hexstatic is trying for a lot of creativity here but this just does not catch my taste buds.

9.That Track

As we enter the final stretch of this album, we hit track nine and so far, this album has been 6 amazing tracks, 1 bad vocal but good track and 1 blah track. So for those who are keeping score at home, I’d say it is pretty good so far. “That Track” uses some slow sound effects with some weird creations to move it, quite different and its not bad nor it is great.

10.Toys Are Us

Track ten for those North Americans who are reading this review, it is not the name of a popular toy chain. Hexstatic take a page from Lemon Jelly’s book of tricks here by starting with some heavy bass stabs then adding that playful style chillout to the track. The riffs are just really forward thinking and they are not normal like what most people are accustomed to hearing. I love it.

11.Pulse

We round off the album with this hard to describe track but you really need to check it out for yourself.

DVD

Hexstatic decided that they wanted to be really creative, so they created a DVD disc, which is included in the package and for every song here, there is a music video. I’m not going to describe the videos but the DVD is worth the price of the package alone. It has a lot of cutting edge ideas and it is not what you would term normal. Anyway be sure to check this out and with the amount of crap videos that are created for tracks in this day and age, this is a breath of fresh air.

Conclusion:
The album is pretty good, the album has some really solid parts that show the forward thinking of Hexstatic but that Juice Aleem song and where that Japanese vocal is brought in, that adds some bad taste but the album is still worth picking up. The DVD is completely twisted, funny and cool at the same time and this package is worth it along for the DVD. Pick this up, if you are tired of the same ol stuff.