Curd Duca

On Easy Listening, Vol. 5, Curd Duca continues to explore the hypnotic potential of the looped instrumental fragment. Each of these 15 brief tracks is built around a different sample nicked from scratchy vinyl. Once the rhythm loop is cut and set in place, Duca adds subtle keyboard melodies, voices, and effects to the mix. There is a hazy, dreamlike quality to Easy Listening, Vol. 5, as Curd Duca carefully deploys familiar pieces of music in odd and disorienting ways. "Sin World" loops a version of "I Put a Spell on You" and adds a wispy ghost of a synthesizer melody, conjuring images of a peaceful evening stroll through a graveyard. Just as recognizable is the noisy sample of Booker T. & the MG's "Green Onions" driving the eerie "Psychoswing." "Bax has a more experimental flavor, as an unsettling quarter-measure slice of orchestral music blends with robotic voices and rhythmic bursts of static. The album as a whole is pleasant background music not terribly far from its easy listening origins, but with added shades of darkness and tension. And while it doesn't seem designed to embed itself into the listener's psyche, Easy Listening, Vol. 5 remains enjoyable through its short running time. ~ Mark Richardson, All Music Guide