Album of the Week: Ost & Kjex, ‘Cajun Lunch’

Album of the Week: Ost & Kjex, ‘Cajun Lunch’

9 July, 2010 | 6.58AM

• Written by: Kornel Koch
• Filed under: Music News: album of the week, diynamic, ost & kjex

Ah, Norway. How do they do it? Through some miracle of talent, luck, or voodoo, they just keep turning out record after record of some of the deepest, dopest stuff around, most of it fascinated by disco and possessed of a mischievous, irrepressible spirit. Someday, someone’s going to come up with a theory for the country’s disproportionate musical output, at least in relation to its population: call it the Fjordist mode of production.

For now, we’ve got yet another cheeky and cheerfully mindblowing album from Oslo’s Ost & Kjex. Their debut album, ‘Some Cheese But Not All Cheese Comes from the Moon’, earned them a nomination in the Norwegian Grammys; now, with the oddly titled ‘Cajun Lunch’, they turn up on Hamburg’s Diynamic label.

Given Diynamic’s commitment to lush, melodic strains of house, the pairing makes quite a bit of sense. Awash in Ost’s falsetto and featuring guest musicians like Bugge Wesseltoft, ‘Cajun Lunch’ doesn’t forget the importance of songwriting, even when it’s deep in the thick of the dancefloor.

For fans of Holy Ghost!, Lindstrom, Prins Thomas, Mungolian Jetset, or labels like DFA, Tigersushi, Bear Funk, and Internasjonal, ‘Cajun Lunch’ is likely to be just your cup of gumbo.

Track highlights

‘Mosambiquetravelplan’

The opening track, featuring Bugge Wesseltoft on piano, sounds a little like a spunkier, nuttier version of Matthew Herbert’s jazzier house tracks, injected with a twinge of Metro Area’s robo-boogie. “Feel-good” doesn’t begin to describe it.

‘We Got the Ticket to the Moon’

Fat analog synth bass and pristine percussion provide the foundation for dreamy, faraway vocals and chiming arpeggios.

‘Continental Lover’

Classic R&B meets vintage Detroit techno in a groove that echoes like the Grand Canyon.

‘A New Deal’

With the swing of quirky French funksters like Ark or dOP, ‘A New Deal’ is a down-and-dirty number that’ll add just the right amount of dusky color to any tech-house set.

‘Cajun Lunch’

The dramatic highlight of the album, ‘Cajun Lunch’ cuts layers of gospel vocals with dark, stabbing keys and nimble drum fills.

‘Bluecheeseblues Part 1’

A Balearic update of Ry Cooder’s blues? Why not—the Baleares have their desert-like landscapes, after all…

‘The Yellow Man’

Sidling into M.A.N.D.Y./Booka Shade territory, ‘The Yellow Man’ is a punchy tech house groove touched up controlled diva vocals.

‘Bluebird’

Stripped-down tech house (echoes of early Trentemoeller?) meets lounge-jazz vibraphones. It’s a great balance of electronic and acoustic sounds, perfectly suited to warm-up sets and parties at the chiringuito.

‘Let’s Set the Times’

Unnnh! It’s got the spooky soul of Wolf+Lamb and an impossibly deep dub-techno cushion beneath, and it explodes—so softly!—into shimmering analog arpeggios and a bittersweet chorus, with just enough edge in the drums to keep it from going all soft. Gorgeous.

• (2) Comments
• (2608) Views
• Get 'Cajun Lunch' on Beatport