TOWA TEI – “TOUCH”

There are occasions when critical impartiality becomes an unreasonable expectation. TOWA TEI was a member of Deee-Lite, my favorite band of all time, so please understand that “TOUCH” entered the auction with a guaranteed buyer. You are welcome to raise the price just to see whether I'm bluffing. I'm not. I have made irresponsible financial decisions before.

ZAMBIENT, Towa's 14th solo album, may require a slightly more sophisticated bidder. He describes the concept as ambient music deliberately contaminated with outside matter: less sterile synthesizer laboratory, more hybrid organism covered in fingerprints. He's even described the project as music that “doesn't aim for the center.” Which explains quite a bit. If you're waiting patiently for twelve conventional pop songs to introduce a verse, locate the chorus and politely return both several times, the docent regrets to inform you that you've entered the wrong gallery.

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“TOUCH,” though, is where I'm spending my money. Towa built the album opener from sampled words that eventually assembled themselves into something resembling “Touch Electric Music,” a phrase he connected to his daily practice of making what he calls sound sculptures. He wanted four-on-the-floor without aggression or obvious club utility. The result sits in that wonderfully specific Towa territory where electronic bleeps, clipped samples and tiny synthetic gestures somehow register as pop without anybody bothering to construct the usual pop architecture around them.

And maybe that's the deal with ZAMBIENT. Some people walk past an abstract painting and wonder why anyone would pay millions for it. Someone else is already bidding. You don't necessarily need to understand why the thing belongs on your wall before knowing you'd like to live with it. “TOUCH” is the one I'm taking home. If you're bidding against me purely to fuck with the price, congratulations on your strategy. My paddle doesn't flinch.