Fez Dispenser

Here are some reactions to 'Fez Dispenser': -Excerpt from issue #230 of Aiding and Abetting zine- 'Those of you looking for electronic beat work inside a jazz idiom need search no more. Fez Dispenser blows out it's grooves in a full-on fusion attack, waxing smooth and blistering as necessary. That's smooth in the delivery, not 'smooth jazz.' These guys turn out one impressive piece after another, never falling into a repetitive rut. Full marks for originality. Just enough of a hip-hop edge to the beats to keep the joints jumpin'. Fez Dispenser uses everything at it's disposal (samples, drum machines, guitars and more) to create complete aural snapshots. The texture within these songs is amazing. A fine disc for your next party. Cool enough that it won't scare off the less adventurous in your crowd, but stylish enough to impress even the most imperious music snob (like, say, me). Quality and then some.' From' John Bennet Date: 02-08-2002 Subject: wheeeeeeee 'fez dispenser - looking around the CD Baby web site I found your music. It has very interesting, fun rhythms. If I could summarize what I think in a word, it'd be 'wheeeeeeee,' which is a good thing.' Splendid zine writes Fez Dispenser Self-Titled Skin & Barrel Album covers can be deceptive. Take a good, long look at the image on the left. If you're like me, you assumed that this disc would be an obnoxious suburban pop-punk band's waste of allowance money. Expecting just that, I put the album into my stereo, pressed the play button and, for the first time in my life, had one of those comic-book thoughts that was all punctuation -- sort of a '???????' Fez Dispenser is not three-chord nonsense about girls and fake IDs. It is, if you can believe this, some kind of funky, pseudo-abstract jazz creature with Latin percussion and hip-hop beats. I'll give you a moment to let that sink in. Matt Thorne is a California-based producer, and the brains behind Fez Dispenser and this, if you pardon the out-dated expression, 'wicked-cool' compilation of influences and arrangements. The album is primarily guitar-based; Thorne will switch from a fairly standard bop guitar in a track like 'Thank You Would Have Done Nicely' to a slightly-distorted post-rock-by-way-of-Chicago on 'Smoothin''.Either way, these are some great songs, a wonderful combination of smooth grooves and fiery abstraction, and you won't be sure whether to sit still and bob your head or run around the room knocking things over and shaking your money maker, as it were. 'Grease Slick' is one of my favorite tracks here. It's instrumental, as they all are, but you'll hardly even notice, as the slick lounge chops slide along as effortlessly as any quality vocals. Behind the guitar and the occasional brass interruption,abstract, layered hip-hop beats and scattered sound effects provide the difference between doctor's office 'lite jazz' and smoky funk. Immediately following 'Grease Slick' is another highlight -- the track named after the band itself. 'Fez Dispenser' seamlessly combines the Latin percussion with those same urban grooves, leaving the jazz guitar outside and fully embracing the quality electronic scheme. It's as if robots from the future took over Telemundo with the sole purpose of making some crazy music -- and then one of them started playing a sitar. Folks, I'm not lying when I tell you that this is probably the best album I've had the pleasure of reviewing so far. Even it's less-than-stellar tracks, like 'He Speaks' or 'Ever