Increasingly prolific Aaron Funk (aka Venetian Snares) releases another album on Planet µ, hot on the heels of Higgins Ultra Low Track Glue Funk Hits 1972 – 2006. This time opting for the shortened moniker of VSnares, Funk delivers another album of disjointed junglistic breakcore assembled from his archive of tracks recorded mostly from around the time of the Doll Doll Dol album onwards.
2370894 ‘s opening tracks – “Underground Circus Jesus”, “Ornamental Grape Bone” and “Happy Morning Condom Factory” – emphasise Funk’s ability to take dark eerie melodies and ghostly atmospherics and hide them behind abstract junglistic beat patterns that switch and mutate like his gear is possessed. Taking this concept still further, the lengthy “Twisting Igneous” is partly eerily atmospherics punctuated by beat interludes and partly a cool reggae vibe that dissolves into dark abstraction. “Fuck Toronto Jungle” sticks 2 fingers up at the Toronto jungle scene by progressive dismantling its jungle beats to become an experimental take on itself. Then there is “We Are All Cesspools” (noted on the CD booklet as a live version of “We Are Oceans” from Higgins Ultra Low Track Glue Funk Hits 1972 – 2006) which starts out all 1950’s private eye thriller but soon degenerates into wonderful jazz mayhem.
Introduced by a sample from a Jimi Hendrix interview, Funk’s Ryjan Kidwell (aka Cex) collaboration “Stamina” is an incredibly infectious instrumental cello-based track with super-cooled breakbeats and an assortment of samples. “2 Dollars” on the other hand is an experimental funky jazz workout featuring a recording of a guy recounting a story about 2 dollars. Closing the album is “British IDM Preset Fanfare (The Hawaiian Hockey Song)” that places more emphasis on melody than breakcore and is a bit of a departure from the rest of the album, a consistent theme for Funk’s album closers.
For being assembled from tracks recorded over the span of several albums, 2370894 shows a remarkable level of cohesion and sounds as though it could have been recorded in a single block. A little less chaotic than Funk’s recent output but this does not detract from its enjoyment. Once again a great album from Funk and there is already another waiting to be released on Planet µ before the year is out!
