Album: Capitol K

Island Row, XL

Two musical geniuses in one week is perhaps too much to hope for, but young Kristian Craig Robinson, aka Capitol K, may just qualify as such, albeit of an entirely different order from Remy Shand.Island Row presents a sonic vision of such singular distinction, it's difficult to assess it on any existing scale. Nominally techno, it's perhaps most comparable to the work of such digital Fauvists as Echoboy and Christian Vogel, though a more accurate appreciation of Capitol K's position in the pop firmament might be gained by imagining the missing link between Badly Drawn Boy and Squarepusher, with the former's wistful introversion shredded into digital bricolage by the latter's cut-up techniques. Robinson possesses a high, plaintive voice reminiscent of Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous, a fondness for reversed drumbeats, and a guitar style that, at its most flamboyant, recalls such eminent psychedelic icons as Quicksilver Messenger Service and Pink Floyd, though his most distinctive instrument is clearly the studio, which he employs with an admirable lo-fi daring. Each of these 11 pieces, from the simple song of sensual desire "Pillow" and the quirky, Gallic-flavoured pop of "Anon" to the angular distortion of "Monster" and mysterious industrial clankings of "Darussalam", is the product of copious studio tinkering, with the results often taking on the rough, abraded surface of a Tom Waits or Sparklehorse performance. It's a strange, contradictory method, resulting in an unusual, organic form of techno that's oddly compelling.