Commentary / Reviews

Kid 606 has built his reputation by mixing mutant jungle with the sort of white noise freakouts favored by Digital Hardcore artists. He's now found a home on Ipecac Recordings, the label co-founded by ex-Faith No More/Mr. Bungle/solo artist and all around fun guy Mike Patton. If you've heard Kid 606 before then nothing on Down With the Scene will surprise you much, but if you haven't...

One thing that is really enjoying is the way Kid 606 mixes humor with his extreme creations. None other than Kevin Mitnick gets a shout out in "Kidrush," an Alec Empire style hyperspeed breakbeat pastiche. It shreds your synapses through sheer speed and hilarity. Patton's demented rap on the broken funk of "Secrets 4 Sale" cracked me up too.

There are a couple of moments of calm ambience on here."For when yr just happy to be alive" is a sweet, dubby track that isn't too different from things Air has done. Likewise, "My Kitten" starts as a spare, meditative piece like something from Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works Volume Two. Then after a couple of minutes the stuttering, harsh junglnoise beats return along with sampled vocals that are distorted and stretched beyond recognition. Hrvatski's remix of this track mixes computer-generated vox, glitchy noise bursts and um, reggae. You have to hear it.

Even weirder is "Dame Nature". This one is house or more like crackhouse. In a way, it epitomizes the essence of really early acid house in that it's an aggressive bad trip that assaults your sense with noisy repetition. You won't find anyone down at your local club dancing to this one though.

Popdrone reviews