Maximum Balloon - S/T

This one could have passed you by because regular Yeah Yeah Yeahs-producer and contributor to both Foals’ and Liars’ early work, Dave Sitek aka.  Maximum Balloon spends most of his time working as a member of the innovative, Brooklyn-based TV On The Radio.  Here, on a debut solo album littered with guest vocalists channelling his streamlined pop ideology, he seems to be doing little else but showing off.

‘Maximum Balloon’ gets by on a groovy, classic funk sound, not too dissimilar from TV On The Radio’s latest offering, ’Dear Science’.  There’s a sexual pulse to these songs, all of which are upheld by some of the most characteristic vocalists around today; Talking Heads’ David Byrne; the fast-rising Theophilus London and the iconic Karen O; not to mention contributions from Sitek’s fellow band members Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone.  Its defining moments come in the quirky but unashamedly atmospheric ‘If You Return’ featuring Swedish electro-heads Little Dragon, the ethos-announcing opener ’Groove Me’ which has Theophilus London begging the listener to ”groove me baby” and the bitten-lips and gyrating thrusts of lead single ‘Tiger’.

There’s a stark balance between the thick and deep tones of say, Tunde Adebimpe and the sweet and melancholic wistfulness of Karen O, and so whilst you can’t expect any cohesiveness from an album relying on a diverse range of guest vocalists, the gritty bass and dirty horn-sections are more than capable of defining a shameless night out.  And for a musician so capable of turning his stride towards more left-field territory a-la fellow music mogul Brian Eno, Sitek does the unexpected by cramming in the singles, announcing himself as a threat to the charts and adding “formidable songwriter” to the endless list of  qualifications on his resume. [JM]