An Animated Description Of Mr. Maps



The Books are a duo out of NYC, Nick Zammuto and Paul de Jong. They have released their third album Lost And Safe on German electronic label Tomlab. I hadn't heard of them until recently when I encountered some of their songs out in the music blogosphere, and, intrigued by the "blipworld, speedblues, country & eastern and post-anything" music (their label's description), decided to investigate them a little further. The CD credits state "sounds/words, found/written, performed/recorded, mixed/mastered by the Books at home in North Adams, MA and New York, NY". It gives you a good idea of what to expect - odd field recordings and found sounds, blended with guitars and banjos and cellos and glitchy beats. Reviews have generally stated that this set is a more structured, conventional recording than their last two - I haven't heard the others (yet!) so I can't comment on that. I do know that I like what I hear. It's quirky, charming, and pretty unique sounding. I particularly dig the gigantically crushing beats of An Animated Description Of Mr. Maps - a track that features "a metal file cabinet implanted with subwoofers". Wacky sure, but an awful lot of fun too.