Oh, the groove gets me down so low to the ground. I've fed my addiction with Miles, Herbie, numerous This is Acid Jazz comps, James Taylor Quartet, and even PM Dawn records. Sometimes I need the groove to massage the soft place on my underbelly where the sleeping elves lie. And if the elves don't sleep, I have to wash my hands every 20 minutes. You can see how important the groove is, can't you?

And into my hands falls the Evil Tambourines' Library Nation. Mating spacy, unhurried grooves with same such raps, Tobias Flowers and Andy Poehlman both claim '70s and '80s influences as their nucleus-- Flowers looking to Sugar Hill and Grandmaster Flash, Poehlman leaning more toward Boston and Styx. Wh-what? I know, it seems an unlikely combo to produce anything of value, but these two can bring a groove together that grabs tiny fragments and samples from numerous sources and makes 'em work.

Occasionally, I've found myself thinking of Beck as I listen to this record. I mean, both Beck and the Evil Tambourines have an inexplicably accurate idea of when to spin a groove in a whole new direction, be it dissonant and shocking, or simply a minor musical aside before returning to the comfortable confines of the track. I don't profess that these two Seattllites are prodigies of Beck's caliber, but the supremely directionless feeling that one is presented with when listening to Beck's stuff is approximated numerous times on Library Nation. A good thing.

Library Nation delivers the following: mellow- ass funkified grooves primarily flaunting tongue- in- cheek raps. It's an unobtrusive, easy- listening combo that, while generally unsurprising and easy, remains interesting. My only bitch: that highly annoying "aaaaaaaah" on the album's title track. Yeah, the one that repeats to infinity. It's a total fuckin' buzzkill! Uh-oh, the wail has awakened the elves. Pardon me while I wash my hands.

-James P. Wisdom