The Blankket Pegatively Nositive

Blocks Recording Club founder Steve Kado marks the DIY collective's 50th release with his slow-burning, electro-acoustic, experimental dance music urges in the Blankket. Xiu Xiu would likely be proud of Kado's opening eight-minute piece, featuring what sounds like the muffled clank of bells and the drone of a Tibetan bowl in a steadily rising crescendo over a light metallic thump. Ninja High School's Matt Collins lends his voice to Kado's insistent chant and Colin Fisher's tasteful sax contribution on "Failure Is Our Game," the latter of which is looped into a hypnotic, ethereal note cycle. "Independence Is No Solution" is a hilarious lyrical satire on the rearing of babies in a potential hive-mind, media-soaked climate. An eight-second saxophone fart of a track later and the album's climactic opus commences, the 11-minute abstract dance-athon "Wrong Life," featuring guest vocal melodies courtesy of Owen Pallet and Iris Fraser. This could be rave music for people who want to be inspired by fascinating sounds instead of lame chemicals. (Blocks)