4 out of 5

Label: Rephlex

Producer: Bogdan Raczynski

On my first few coasts through ‘Boku,’ I was a bit under-impressed, holding in mind ‘Samurai Math Beats’ and ‘Alright!’ for comparison.  BMW felt like the first album it was, just containing sketches of the jaw-dropping IDM of ‘Samurai’ and ‘Thinking of You,’ but leaning more toward the BPM kinda stuff collected on ’96 Drum and Bass’… which in turn was amped up with awesomeness for ‘Alright!’  And it’s true, the record isn’t quite as tight or experimental as what was to come (though it’s still plenty experimental), but getting the full effect of ‘Boku’ requires, well, getting the full effect.  Interestingly, it feels more like an album than Bogdan’s other discs, in the sense that I got a real feeling of flow from start to finish that didn’t really come back into play until ‘Alright!’.  In fact, the disc is almost a tour of all of Bogdan’s styles, a preview of each genre in which he’s proven himself – which gets fleshed out moreso on various albums, depending on that genre, but there’s something pleasing about having an overview presented here.

The album starts out fairly generic, admittedly, and takes its time to warm up to unleashing its tricks – literally about halfway through, track 14, which begins with an off-kilter beat before dropping some lullaby keys into the mix and the going deeper into the mixed beats.  The first few tracks explore variations on Bogdan’s quieter side (think the stoner track off of ‘Samurai,’ or a bit less moody ‘My Love I Love’ stuff), so a little underwhelming if you’re waiting for Aphex Twin’s eviler schizophrenic twin of whom you’d read to immediately emerge.  ‘Boku’ then drops into standards for about ten tracks; dance floor movers that are indicative of a lot of the Rephlex output in the late 90s / early 00s – impressive mixes that don’t break the surface too much.  But once you pass that midway point… whoosh.  The album goes.  And then a handful of tracks toward the end, Bogdan turns it up again and gets flippin’ funky as shit, rivaling the madness on the albums I’ve already mentioned like ninety times.  Wrapping up the flow are some cool-down tracks, bringing the beat down and then doing a full zone out for our conclusion.

With 20+ untitled tracks, its easy to get lost on this album and brush it off.  But let it work.  Let it play through completely and wrap around again.  That build-up seems just right – other Raczynski albums wear me down after a listen, but ‘Boku’ – while maybe not as overall impressive as some of the artist’s other works – plays with build and balance to deliver a pretty grand album that can sit in your headphones on repeat.