Ruckus

Performer: Galactic
Engineer: Scott Harding
Distributor: BMG (distributor)

Notes: This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Galactic: Theryl De' Clouet (vocals); Jeffrey Raines (guitar); Ben Elliman (harmonica, saxophone, programming); Richard Vogel (keyboards); Robert Mercurio (bass, background vocals); Stanton Moore (drums, loops). Producers: Dan The Automator, Mike "Nappy" Napolitano, Galactic. Recorded at Ready Mix Studios, New Orleans, Louisiana. This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Personnel: Teedy Boutte, Theryl DeClouet (vocals); Jim Greer (guitar, keyboards); Ben Ellman (harmonica, saxophone, programming); Glenn Hartman (accordion); Richard Vogel (keyboards); Stanton Moore (drums, loops); Robert Mercurio (background vocals). Recording information: Ready Mix, New Orleans, LA. On their fourth studio album proper -- Vintage Reserve was a best-of, and We Love 'Em Tonight was a live offering -- Galactic wholeheartedly move not so much away from their past as a bad-ass New Orleans jazz & roll concern, as they move toward another of its traditions: Voodoo funk. There is a twist though. Not merely content to grasp the Mardi Gras Indians or Dr. John esthetics, Galactic points firmly toward the technological present with their primordial groove machine music. Drummer Stanton Moore uses as many loops as he does organic drums, bass, bass, and more bass is the order of the day, and strange keyboard sounds come bubbling under like some lost Lee Perry session gone digital. Does that make this a techno or an electronica record? C'mon. Ruckus is a spooky ride to the other side of midnight. The party is either gonna break out or break up; it exists on the edge of that fine distinction, that moment in time when anything is possible. And possibility is what Ruckus is all about: simmering organ grooves encounter striated acoustic and electric guitars under a series of syncopated rhythms by Moore on "Bongo Joe." Jagged synth lines by Richard Vogel meet ragged-then-overdriven guitars from Jeffrey Raines on "The Moil," and monstrous tom tom loops collide with basslines and keyboard riffs before Raines comes in on the acoustic bottleneck to smooth out the off-kilter funk on "Kid Kenner." This is music as the deconstruction of a sonic palette, as the deconstruction, death, and rebirth of a band. And, like Medeski, Martin and Wood before them, Galactic is all the better for its brave new world direction. Ruckus is no less a roots album than Coolin' Off was. But perhaps it is more so because in order to use all this gear and create the kind of ass-burning grooves the band comes up with, there is only one place to go to find the source: rhythm itself (if you need further evidence check out "The Beast," and let it mess your head and backbone up). Highly recommended. ~ Thom Jurek

Entertainment Weekly (10/17/03, p.80) - "...Galactic reinvent themselves on their fourth full-length, RUCKUS....Credit knob-twiddler Dan 'The Automator' Nakamura...for helping the sextet condense its sprawling live sound..." - Rating: A-

Mixing vintage, down-home New Orleans funk, and R&B with a hip-hop sensibility, Galactic have managed to appeal to traditionalists, new heads, and the jam-band crowd alike. Though Galactic's earlier sound is more straightforward in its appreciation of Crescent City grooves, beginning with 2003's RUCKUS produced by Dan the Automato, the band would directly incorporate elements of rap and turntablism, going on to work with artists such as Lyrics Born, Juvenile, and Gift of Gab (of Blackalicious). Though they've never been a huge presence on the charts, they have a devoted following built on strong musicianship, fearless creativity, and relentless touring.

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