By
Chad Taylor
soundcheck@dmcityview.com
 Nicolay
w/ The Hot At Nights
‘Shibuya Session EP’
+FE Music
Nicolay — one half of the Grammy-nominated
electronica duo The Foreign Exchange — teams
up with Raleigh, N.C., experimental jazz trio
The Hot At Nights for this EP. The end result
is, honestly, about what you’d expect from electronic/jazz
fusion. Sometimes the pairing really, really
works: “Rain in Ueno Park” and “Crossing” are
funky, sexy tracks that perfectly balance Nicolay’s
production value with some excellent work by
Hot At Nights drummer Nick Baglio. Other times,
the album is every bit as self-indulgent as
you might expect from anything labeled “experimental
jazz.” “Inner Garden” in particular, starts
well, but halfway through the song devolves
into a car-wreck of saxophone and background
noise. The good does outshine the bad here,
and if you’re a fan of electronic music and
sexy drum work, this EP is worth your time.
CV
(Nicolay and The Hot At Nights play the Vaudeville
Mews Tuesday, July 10. The all-ages show starts
at 6:30 p.m. $15.)
 Dub
Pistols
‘Worshipping the Dollar’
Sunday Best Recordings
Dub Pistols are masters of their genre-defying,
eclectic sound. Mixing dub, big beat, two tone,
hip hop and reggae influences with unbridled
élan, “Worshipping the Dollar” is an unrelenting,
frenetic wall of sound featuring a dizzying
array of guest vocalists comprising a virtual
who’s who of UK club and Brit-hop. The biggest
knock against the album is the band’s adherence
to a sound whose time — in the U.S. at least
— has come and gone. Ten years ago, “Worshipping
the Dollar” would feel vital and regnant. The
scintillating beats would have been cutting
edge, and the political statements in tracks
like “West End Story” would have been powerful.
Releasing the album now means the Dub Pistols
will have to settle for being socially irrelevant
but nevertheless wildly entertaining. Everything
here has been done before, but few bands do
it so well. CV
Want your new CD reviewed? Email us a link
at soundcheck@dmcityview.com
or mail a physical copy to: Cityview, 414 61st
Street, Des Moines, IA 50312.
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