Jimi Tenor
Organism
[Warp/Sire]
Rating: 8.6
There's something really strange about Jimi Tenor that it's hard to put
a finger on. He performs his songs completely straight-faced, like he's
as serious about his work as Sting is about saving whales. But the songs,
while always intriguing and listenable, are just too damned weird for there
not to be some tongue- in- cheek value intended.
Organism was released earlier this year on the revered electronic
label Warp Records, home to such forward-thinking auteurs as Squarepusher,
Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada, and Two Lone Swordsmen. And as
different as this album is from the rest of Warp's roster, it somehow
belongs-- like Neil Hamburger on Drag City, Guided By Voices on TVT,
or gospel diva Thornetta Davis on Sub Pop.
Tenor's bizarre blend of earnest, Barry White-style '70s soul, Prince
funk circa Dirty Mind, ultramodern electronic flourishes, and
geeky, Jarvis Cocker delivery is truly disturbing. Is he serious or
just bein' goofy? It's impossible to know. But when the skinny, thick- rimmed-
glasses- wearin' Warhol lookalike lustfully whispers "I wanna be the
taxi driver who takes you home tonight/ I wanna be every customer in the
diner where you work," before belting out "'Cause I wanna work to make you
love me," his computer nerd image comes off as simultaneously sexy and
Triple X sleazy.
Tenor is at his most charming on Organism's slinky soul tracks,
especially "Love and Work" and "Sleep" which both draw heavily from
modern ghetto R&B; beats and jazz flute solos from late '60s Quincy Jones
records. But Tenor's act is far from gimmicky. The leadoff track, "Total
Devestation" and "Year of Apocalypse" are thunderous, bass-heavy house
anthems, while "Xinotepe Heat" sounds like a cross between Alice Coltrane's
Journey in Satchidananda, Jan Hammer's "Theme from 'Miami Vice'"
and the soundtrack to the second level of "Sonic the Hedgehog 2."
The album's two low points come with the grading "Muchmo," a song that
features a sterile, programmed electronic beat and a vocoder-enhanced
voice-- presumably Tenor's-- endlessly repeating the words "Much more
psychedelic/ Than any of the drugs," and "Serious Love," whose mind-
numbing repetition of the phrase "Give me something good that'll feed
my soul/ 'Cause you need some serious love to stay happy" is a little
irritating. Luckily, these songs are spaced far enough apart on the
disc that they don't really interfere much with the overall quality
of the record. Besides, the brilliant "My Mind," with its sultry
sax solo and Talking Heads-influenced background chorus, and the
dark futurism of the album's closing number, "City Sleeps," are
perhaps some of the most innovative and original in the entire Warp
catalog.
Organism would be an awesome listen on a rainy Spring night in
Tokyo or while cruising Main Street in downtown Anoka, Minnesota on
any given August night in 1983. Whatever the case, its magic cannot
be truly appreciated while the sun's up. Reserve for New Year's Eve
Party, 2000.
-Ryan Schreiber