- As a house collective exploring the outer limits of the form, Wah Wah Wino has a lot in common with Regelbau, Sex Tags and SUED. Each label seems like a wormhole of aliases and collaborations—you get the sense that these respective crews spend so much time together that they can make a record with whoever happens to be in the room. Wah Wah Wino's first full-length, Absolutely Wino, seems to reflect this approach.
Morgan Buckley is the most well-known producer on Absolutely Wino. He's made music for Rush Hour's No 'Label' offshoot, including a split release with Olmo Devin, who goes by OD. Absolutely Wino's tracks are attributed to a range of new aliases, including Gombeen & Doygen, Who's The Technician?, Plop and OD Dingus. Gombeen & Doygen's "7,000 Years," where someone mumbles through a vocoder, establishes Wah Wah Wino's foundations of house, dub and krautrock. The next cut, Devin's "Super Secret Office Party," channels the deep, mysterious funk of On The Corner-era Miles Davis. Dark Delight's excellent "Somniloquy" combines rhythmic and ethereal Rhodes with a baggy breakbeat, splitting the difference between The Stone Roses and trip hop. Other highlights include Wino Wagon's "Paco's Ode," which builds up from pensive, kraut-y percussion into a madcap house groove. I've never heard a cut like Morgan & Davy's "Craudrock," which nails the Neu! sound using a synth pulse and funky harmonica samples.
The hour-plus compilation has a mixtape feel. There are radio shout-outs ("A Message From Lee Eel") and off-the-cuff jams ("Tractor Troubles (Part I)" and "Tractor Troubles (Part II)"). After Plop's electro-via-The Orb track "Sligo B," Wino Wagon returns with "Teen - Romp - Hoe - Down," the album's closer. It's a spacey, mid-tempo jam that cribs the language of unabashedly dumb '90s alternative rock—"We're leaving school / I'll miss my friends / we party hard / but now it's the end." This boozy ode to camaraderie goes some way to summing up the compilation's appeal—on Absolute Wino, Wah Wah Wino apply a lighthearted touch to an impressive range of styles.
Tracklist01. Gombeen & Doygen - 7,000 Years
02. OD - Super Secret Office Party
03. Dark Delight - Somniloquy
04. Wino Wagon - Paco's Ode
05. Who's The Technician? - Tractor Troubles (Part I)
06. Little Movies - Gregory(an) Wah
07. Morgan & Davy - Craudrock
08. Lee Eel - A Message From Lee Eel
09. Who's The Technician? - Tractor Troubles (Part II)
10. Plop - Sligo B
11. OD Dingus - Stolen Valour (MB's "Play It Out" Edit)
12. Wino Wagon - Teen - Romp - Hoe - Down