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Mauxuam
Viceversa

Interchill Records

Posted: Thursday, May 22, 2008
By: Matthew Johnson
Assistant Editor

After an extended sabbatical from the music industry, former Technogod member Maurizio Liguori returns with a new solo project. Liguori has spent much of the past seven years traveling through the world, and Viceversa reflects a more global sound, with multi-layered tribal drums pervading "Extended Body" and hints of trilling flutes adding an eastern flavor to the cheerful but stony "Jahnesh (Divine Cluster Version)." Above and beyond the subtler world music allusions, though, is an understated but omnipresent dub influence; opening track "B4 After" drenches its clicking percussion in thick layers of digital delay as the bass percolates beneath drippy acid synths, and the appealingly confused "Where Was I Going?" brings together the tribal drums of Africa and the bass-heavy grooves of the Caribbean, then throws in some pure analog drum patches for the breakbeat crowd. Though indisputably mellow throughout, this is no ambient album; Liguori doesn't force you to jump up and dance, but he won't let you drift off to dreamland either. "Stones of Gaza" in particular is deliciously funky in its own laidback way, with deep rumbling breaks and squelching synth pulses sure to get heads nodding. Perhaps this album's masterwork, though, is the epic-length "Infinity Minus 1." Starting off with spacey washes and fluttering synth textures, it piles layer upon layer of organic-sounding analog effects before letting a muffled rhythm bubble up into the mix. Somehow both organic and electronic, it's reminiscent of Future Sound of London in all the best ways, building a richly detailed soundscape augmented by hints of static and even muted trumpet before segueing into outro track "Wriggly Things," a similar but shorter collection of echoes and dribbles. A masterful brew of influences from around the world, Viceversa was worth the wait and hopefully portends more releases from Mauxuam in the near future.