Album Review: Zig Zaj by Boom Bip

Boom Bip was one of the canniest underground beat producers around before he hooked up with Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals to create the fascinating Neon Neon project, which took as its focus automaker John DeLorean and what his car (and charisma) meant to the '80s. BB's return to the solo realm finally came on 2011's Zig Zaj, which has more in common with Neon Neon than with his early solo joints. (Features for Cate Le Bon and Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos, among others, certainly fit in.) As always, it's impeccably produced -- Hollon has only gained in proficiency and maturity as a producer.

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It's easy to picture Bryan Hollon casting a few interested glances at Ford & Lopatin earlier this year, particularly when the duo gained acclaim for embellishing their work with overt 1980s pop references on Channel Pressure. Hollon, better known by the Boom Bip moniker he's recorded under for more than a decade, had already covered vastly territory in 2008 through his Neon Neon project with Super Furry Animals singer Gruff Rhys. But his work there and as Boom Bip has been characterized by a restless desire to keep his sound in flux, to constantly seek out fresh collaborators and remixers, to help pull away from any set patterns he may be settling into.

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Predictably unpredictable fare from the producer and an array of high-profile guests. David Stubbs 2011 For the critic, Bryan ‘Boom Bip’ Hollon is at once exhilarating and exasperating – exhilarating in his straddling and meddling of a range of styles, exasperating in that he plays havoc with any attempt to contain or define him with overarching statements as to what he's about. John Peel dubbed him a "modern day Captain Beefheart", which might well have seemed appropriate at that point in his strategically haphazard career.

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