Bumps - "Bumps"

Bumps - OK!!! (Stones Throw 2007)

Bumps – Bumps / Stones Throw

So to conclude what has become post-rock week (at least from my side of things) here at Audiversity, we get to spend a little time with the Chicagoans who defined the term in the early/mid-90s, Tortoise. No, they sadly do not have a new album coming out as a cohesive group, but as you surely know by now, side-projects, collaborations and one-offs are abundant within the realms of the shell. This time around, the three most percussive minds in the band, John McEntire, John Herndon and Dan Bitney, head to the west coast and team up with hip-hop innovators Stones Throw Records for a record of drum breaks. Aptly titled Bumps, the rhythmic trio clang, clatter, skitter, rattle, pummel, pound, thump and yes, bump over twenty-three tracks of ridiculously tight break beats.

Not to dissuade you from checking out the album, but be wary, when I say drum breaks record, I absolutely mean it. Bumps is thirty minutes of break beats and that is it; no auxiliary melodic instrumentation save maybe a toned tom or the occasional ring of something-or-other is used whatsoever. I only emphasize this because even though it has not been advertised as anything more, I can easily see someone seeing the names Tortoise and Stones Throw teamed together and think this is some post-hip-hop-rock experiment… which it kind of is, but maybe not in the manner that you might think (by the way, that would be awesome and they totally need to look into that). With twenty-three different approaches to break beats averaging at about a minute-and-a-half a piece, McEntire, Herndon and Bitney are able to solder not only the aforementioned drumming styles of hip-hop and post-rock together, but also elements of funk, Brazilian, Latin, Afrobeat, krautrock, dub and other heavily rhythmic genres into one surprisingly cohesive and enjoyable album.

With the names and establishments involved, you can correctly predict a few characteristics before even pushing play on the album: 1. It is impeccably played, 2. It is crisply produced, 3. It is funky as hell. Now that we have covered those important aspects, for straight-up listening purposes, my personal favorite songs are the tracks that include odd drum set-ups, multiple tunings or extra percussive toys. While tracks like “OK!!!” contain breaks so killer it would make ?uestlove shake his head in awe, for attention purposes, songs like “Tryplmeade Gorsmatch” with it’s twinkling electronics and deep tom ring, “Swingland Hit” with it’s woodblocks and echoing pitches, “A Safe Balm” with it’s auxiliary conga rhythms, and “Dawn at Dawn” with it’s multi-tuned array of drums are your go-to points. For drummers and ears intently attuned to sample-able material, Bumps will keep you nodding your head for a good while; for listeners more interested in the melodic, lyrical or traditionally structured aspect of music, you may want to skip this release.

And being that this is a break beat record, I am curious of how the musicians involved are handling the copyright side of things. I do not see much point of releasing an album like this unless you are inviting other musicians to utilize the incredible breaks for other projects. At the very least, I hope that Stones Throw has a follow-up album close behind with songs built from these rhythmic foundations (and knowing the label, I can’t imagine that it’s not already in the mastering stages). But for the moment, Bumps acts as not only further proof that McEntire, Herndon and Bitney are three of the best rhythmic innovators in the game today, but a great DJ tool primed for killer segues or beat-matching.