- Long Island Electrical Systems' latest "half-release" (as their white labels are denoted) comes from Bookworms. Save his real name (Nik Dawson), a few compilation appearances on a small Bay Area hip-hop label and that greasy pizza stamp on the back of the 12-inch I refuse to believe isn't riddled with meaning, I can't find much on him. But his sound—and boy, does he cram a lot of it onto L.I.E.S. 009.5—speaks, nay, screams for itself.
Love Triangles makes for a pitch-perfect example of the sort of uncompromising music L.I.E.S. mastermind Ron Morelli spoke of recently in his Little White Earbuds interview: while it certainly sounds of the moment, it basically knees dance music convention in the groin. Pleasantly clunky, "Love Triangles" shouldn't be nearly as danceable as it is. But by the sheer will of its insistent Rhodes chords and cavernous congas, the track renders chinscratching next to impossible. "African Rhythms" is more coherently clubby on the surface, throwing dancers in a pit of syncopated drums and incoherent siren song. That kick we long for, though, never arrives, and by the track's end, we're suspended amongst the clouds, unsure of how to get back to earth or if we're even interested in going there.
TracklistA Love Triangles
B African Rhythms