Central Market [CD]

For more than a decade, Tyondai Braxton has fine-tuned his unique approach as "quite literally -- a solo artist. Working by himself on stage and in the studio, he employed guitar, voice, looping and delay pedals plus various found objects to create work that simulates the sound of a large ensemble.His live performances are as technically astonishing as they are sonically mesmerizing. However, on his Warp Records debut and second full-length solo album, Central Market, Braxton takes a radically different course from the "orchestrated loops" that had become his trademark: For the first time in his solo career, he's composed for a real orchestra. The result is an exhilarating mix of acoustic and electronic instrumentation; surprisingly pastoral moments give way to more clangorous passages that will immediately appeal to fans of avant-rock quartet, Battles, of which Braxton is a member. There are plenty of ominous, unsettling sounds, particularly in its later tracks, but the sheer ambition of Central Market gives the album an uplifting, almost joyful quality. The spirit of the playing and the inventiveness of the arrangements make the entire experience exciting and fun, a word Braxton often employs when describing the process of bringing Central Market to fruition.

• Format Detail: Digipak
• Format: CD
• Genre: Rock