"COMPRESSED
LIGHT"
"With
P'taah's debut LP, "Compressed Light", innovative Ubiquity
Records scores yet another stunning release, hot on the heels of
its two New Latinaires compilations. Atlanta's P'taah (a.k.a. Chris
Brann) is best known for his house work under the Wamdue Productions
alias, but here he moves far into the leftfield terrain marked out
in 1999 by J. Swinscoe's Cinematic Orchestra and Carl Craig's Innerzone
Orchestra, where jazz meets the sampler and collaged strains pour
over programmed beats. It's an unlikely merger, but here especially,
it results in the deepest soul. Compressed Light treats the recording
studio as the ultimate instrument. Listen to space unfold as sounds
-- drumbreak, snaky bass line, stab of brass -- map the imaginary
boundaries of the track, rebuilding the room around you in the unlikeliest
of architectures. Tying together the farthest corners of the virtual
room, warm, sun-drenched chords float, smolder and then burst into
full flame. Brann, a virtuoso of the studio, turns the mixing deck
into a space of alternate possibility, and Compressed Light is a
wonder-filled celebration of that possibility. 5 out of 5."
-ALTERNATIVE PRESS
P'taah (AKA Chris Brann of Wamdue Productions) is on a mission to
experiment with Latin rhythms, future jazz and freaked out club
beats.
His new releases for Ubiquity have been well received by DJs and
music fans with an ear for the cutting edge. The P'taah sound lies
somewhere in unchartered territory between artists like early '70s
Herbie Hancock, blaxploitation soundtracks, DJ Krust, and kings
of new school jazz funk Jazzanova: it's fierce jazz powered by multiple
layers of percussion and a cinematic whirl of strings, FX, and soloing.
P'taah (pronounced puh-TAHH) is a new outlet for tireless Atlanta-based
producer Chris Brann. P'taah is Brann's opportunity to move out
of the house music spectrum and experiment with new approaches to
making contemporary club and electronic music. Incorporating live
musicians and exploring the space between drum and bass, house,
and free jazz won't buy Ubiquity a number one record, but the "Flying
High" and "First EP" 12"s have pricked up an
ear or two. Ashley Beedle, Nubian Mindz, and Chateau Flight (DJ
Gilb-r and I:Cube) have all agreed to swap remixes with P'taah (watch
out for some special 12"s in 2000/1). DJs like Gilles Peterson,
Josh Wink and Peter Kruder have all shown their appreciation for
the 12"s releases so far.
Collaborators on the P'taah full length album will include vocalists
Heather Johnson and Terence Downs, percussionists Genoa Mungin and
Sakima, and David Hughes who applies his studies of Indian ragas
to the saxophone. The CD version will be presented in continuous
mix format and the LP will feature DJ-friendly edits. |
