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In apple terms, NYC is the size of a large Bramley with the taste of a Crawley Beauty. More importantly, in musical terms, with due respect to Hebden (aka Four Tet), Reid and Hawkwind, it’s Hawkwind without the crap; especially on the opener ‘Lyman Place’ which is basically just loud drums and old synth sounds. I’ve not been able to turn this track up to 11 yet, but that’s the volume level you need to listen at.

And the other five tracks basically stick to this winning formula; sometimes a little more Afro-Indo influenced (like on ‘Departure’ with the addition marimba and bell sounding EFX), sometimes more laid-back (with the addition of guitar twang on ‘Arrival’ and acoustic guitar theme of ‘Between B & C’) or even the blip hop of ‘1st & 1st’.

As this is just Hebden on “electronics” and Reid on drums (in case you don’t know, Steve Reid is a drumming legend along the lines of Tony Allen) so it’s never going to produce anything too clever; but that’s not the point of course. As their impro-double act matures, they position themselves in the middle ground between ‘classical’ Reich (who apparently has also recorded at the same studio in New York as where NYC was recorded), Afrobeat, Benga, techno, minimal and all other ‘repetitive’ music genres.

If you liked the first of the Hebden/Reid collaboration (Tongues), you’ll like this, if you didn’t like , you still might like this as it’s not as stark as the previous release. Perhaps it’s because in between times they worked on Daxaar in a group setting. Perhaps, as it’s inspired by Reid’s hometown NYC, this album has an edge that makes it more welcoming. Perhaps we’re getting used to what they are capable of. Perhaps they are getting used to what they are capable of. Either/anyway, ‘25th Street’ is the place to be on this performance. Top album and not just for drummers and electronics geeks.

Reviewed: Kieran Hebden / Steve Reid - NYC (Domino) Cat No. WIGCD219 Release date: 18th November 2008
Tracklisting
1. Lyman Place (7:06)
2. 1st & 1st (6:15)
3. 25th Street (6:22)
4. Arrival (9:23)
5. Between B & C (5:38)
6. Departure (7:14)

Links
www.kieranhebdenandstevereid.com
www.dominorecordco.com