The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger [KLP219]

Mahjongg thrills, trills, and hits notes that only canines comprehend. Mahjongg employs equal opportunity in their invincible desire to thwart and impress density; fun-avatar vs. political rabble-rouser, they make music for the whole world. Imagine a triangle with several smaller triangles attached to each of its sides, and even smaller triangles attached to each of those, and so on. In math, we call this a Koch snowflake. Why not do the same in music? Use musical notes, adding smaller notes within each one, and smaller ones within those, and so on. Or go the other way, and start with a small pattern and build it up to larger and larger structures. This is what Mahjongg does for you. With The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger [KLP219], Mahjongg rule in 2010 and beyond. This album is the shit. Besides being pioneering members of the most fucked up awesome weird dance music scene Chicago has seen in decades, these are some nice dudes. They've invented a new style of music they call Chicagotronics: a wall of sound command center with drums and humans. They sing together and dance all crazy and there's this laser going. It's great. The digital version of this album is available from Bandcamp Gooble Miami Knights Grooverider Free Wardance Devry Whoop LA Beat These days they may be fodder for tabloid writers and late-night comics, but way back in the day Mahjongg ruled the charts. This new release offers evidence of why, for better or worse, Mahjongg's popular Chicagotronic styling's set the standard for underground music. The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger is the pinnacle so far of Mahjongg's four albums, and you get all the facets of their platinum-plus sound. Mahjongg is basically a bar band who got lucky. Their previous album Kontpab [KLP191] announced a big noise in the music scene of 2008. The Long Shadow of the Paper Tiger features their first protest song ("Grooverider Free"), which is actually an extended version of a previous single (Pun alert: "Free Grooverider"), released as a Dub Narcotic Disco Plate, "Free Grooverider" (paired with the Selector Dub Narcotic "Version" [DBN114]). Following a closing gurgle-sax on "Gooble," comes "Miami Knights" where our dance detectives take that smooth boat through choppy waters. The album continues with layers of keyboards, guitars, and percussion parts that wind around each other almost like a fugue -- an intrinsic groove that rarely fails to amaze and inspire.