Calvin Johnson is trying hard to be the next Godfather of soul. His own Dub Narcotic Sound System put out another full- length earlier this year, and before that he released a mix of tunes called Selector Dub Narcotic; it was recorded at Dub Narcotic studios and it featured the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Beck, and enough hip-hop, soul and indie rock to shake anyone's bootie. Now comes Icu's Chotto Matte A Moment!, a familiar blend of beats and rhythms that automatically sounds distantly familiar, yet entirely original.

It may be the instrument combinations. Rather than just a DJ, or a DJ and a full band, Icu takes to the middle ground with eclectic keyboardist Michiko Swiggs, upright bassist Aaron Hartman and sample/ beatmaster Kento Oiwa. The combination lends a sense of avant- jazz freedom to the mix. Hartman's live bass not only smooths out the breakbeats, it also sounds intentionally personal-- even when he's looping his rhythms, there's no question this bass is live.

The breaks he's smoothing out are, luckily, already seamless, but not perfect like some inane trance thump. Oiwa's not as adept at finding altogether new beat combinations as he is at finding familiar beats done in unfamiliar ways. The triple- kick and cymbals of "Flower and Moon" are nothing new, but they sound fresh when combined with Hartman's twangy bass and Swiggs' spy film keyboards. And the hollow hits looped together and dubbed out on "Whistle" are subtle enough to kick back and let Swiggs and Hartman pluck out one of the best acid jazz vibes this side of Medeski, Martin and Wood.

Acid jazz is only one of the many great vibes. "Temptation" has a slow- motion urgency and a sultry sample of a woman breathing, "We all... must resist... temptation" that beats DJ Vadim at his own coffeehouse game. The frenetic drum loops of "Yopparai (A Drunkard Who Fell from Heaven)" make like live drill-n-bass as Oiwa turns a traditional Japanese chant up to chipmunk speed. It's funny and bombastic (Oiwa slows down the chant at the end just so we can hear the difference), and for a musical style in which one is too often sacrificed for the other, Icu's techno- funk is a musical coup.

There are more coups: "Can't You Even Remember That?" is as sulky as the song title; "Aluet" builds from an interstellar belly- dance melody before moving further east to Indian guitar echoes as Oiwa scratches out "Al-Al-Al-u-et... Aluet!;" an unlisted ninth track lets Hartman fully explore his Charlie Mingus sensibilities as a mad tribal beat is laid and a massive sax sample is smeared across the rhythm.

Every song could be a classic, but could also just as easily be disposable pop, which is the beauty of Chotto Matte a Moment! You may have respect for Icu because they know how to make songs like they haven't been made before. But even better than that is that these songs make you feel as funky as they want to be.

-Shan Fowler

"Whistle"

[Real Audio Stream]