Reverbaphon - album review

Pretty much everything released by Scottish electronica label Benbecula is worth a listen, and Reverbaphon is no different. This second album from Dundonian Paul Smith blends glitchy, skittering folktronica with jazz and world music to create something intelligent, original and unsettling.

The opening salvo of ‘Broad Island’ and ‘Us Mob’ sets the template – complex rhythms, jittery samples and myriad instrumentation layered to dramatic effect. A few tracks tend to collapse under the sheer weight of ideas, but when he gets it right, like on the sumptuous ‘The Existential Sheriff’, Smith is easily a match for like Four Tet and Caribou. (Doug Johnstone)