Osborne

They Say...

Review by Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

When Todd Osborn released this, the first Osborne album, the polymath DJ/producer had already stockpiled a sizable stack of releases covering a wide range of territory, most notably the punishing junglist warheads released by his own Rewind label, as well as the duly blistering Wired for Sound mix, where he operated as Soundmurderer. He was also a long established node of Ghostly's dancefloor-centric offshoot Spectral Sound, from the deep bass pressure of "Bout Ready to Jak" (the A-side of the label's fourth release) to the uncategorizable "Outta Sight" (included here), the closest we'll get to hearing a Manuel Göttsching and Larry Heard co-remix of Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up." Like occasional production partner Tadd Mullinix (aka SK-1, Dabrye, James T. Cotton, Charles Manier), Osborn comes across as a dabbler with a limited attention span, given the scattered output, but masters each style to which he devotes energy. It's just as crucial that he (again, like Mullinix) obviously reveres the inspirations he has absorbed but is not reverent in his approach; even when a given track can be easily slotted into some point in the past, it remains contemporary and, in some way, unique. Despite being as varied as any other electronic full-length released in 2008, Osborne only scratches the surface of the producer's scope, encompassing multiple strands of house -- emotive throwback deep house ("Downtown," "Ruling"), gnashing acid house ("Junk Food" and "L8," a Mullinix co-production) -- as well as instrumental electronic pop that is truly affecting ("Suffer," "Detune"). What seeps through everything is Osborne's way with a melody, which helps make each and every track (including the relatively stern, iller-tempered ones) memorable after the first play. Above and beyond the call note: Osborne built the computer and made the software that allowed these tracks to be made.