Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Christina Vantzou - No. 4 about 17 hours ago
  • The Fangasm: The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit about 18 hours ago
  • Laura Veirs - The Lookout 2 days ago
  • Eels - The Deconstruction 2 days ago
  • A Place To Bury Strangers - Pinned 2 days ago
  • "I am fascinated by art that asks a lot of questions": DiS Meets Jenny Wilson 2 days ago
  • Planet Gear: Erland Cooper 3 days ago
  • Evolution and Equilibrium: DiS Meets Wye Oak 4 days ago
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

Koushik

Out My Window

Label: Stones Throw Records Release Date: 29/09/2008

42552
JoeDiddly by Luke Slater October 6th, 2008

The first time Koushik (full name: Koushik Ghosh) caught my attention was when Stones Throw – his current label – released a remix album of MF DOOM and Madlib's Madvillainy (a personal favourite of mine) bearing his name and Four Tet's. For some unfathomable reason, I decided to skip Koushik's reworks and indulge in the few Four Tet had worked his magic on instead. With Rounds on heavy rotation at the time, it seemed the logical thing to do. It turns out that praise of Koushik's half was lukewarm, but surely now everything is forgotten with the release of his first full-length, Out My Window.

His dreamy brand of psych-pop has a quality which is ultimately hard to characterise - it's superbly subtle. Ethereal is an adjective often thrown around lazily to mean anything with above-average levels of reverb or delay, but it's one which is certainly applicable here. Production values here are key, extending far beyond the simple and token use of effects. It all seems so fastidiously planned, with not a note out of place, but it's also inherently natural. The layering and balancing of Koushik's own softly-spoken, child-like melodies with a multitude of heavenly sounding instruments – flutes, harpsichords, mellotrons amongst the conventional, epitomised by the lethargic and snappy drum grooves - is an ethos and style which permeates every corner, every second of the album with a mood that is, at all times, bright and breezy.

Out My Window sees such a pack of influences and eras: 70s jazz-funk drum and bass grooves bind with 60s pop; psychedelia set against deft use of sampling, Spector's wall of sound, and, with a kick and snare bursting forth through a sampled kit, there's a definite scent of DJ Shadow. The fact that Koushik manages to pool them together into something musically simple but immensely satisfying may not be that remarkable in itself, but the end product surely is.

It's an album which is so light on the ears that it's easy to forget it's even playing; the hazy flow of each track is barely interrupted to start the next. It is by no means a dreamy conveyor belt of misty ambience from start to finish though: 'In A Green Space' explodes from fairly humble jazz-inflected beats into something briefly but completely euphorically brilliant. 'Bright And Shining', too, with its combination of horns, persistent percussion and soul sampled vocals embodies perfectly what this record is about within the space of four minutes. If you're already aware of Koushik's work, this record may not be a revelation to you but if you are unfamiliar with the author, the laid-back magnificence of Out My Window is a fine place to start.

  • 8
    Luke Slater's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Christina Vantzou

    No. 4


  • The Fangasm: The Midnight Organ Fight by Frightened Rabbit


  • Laura Veirs

    The Lookout


  • Eels

    The Deconstruction


  • A Place To Bury Strangers

    Pinned


  • "I am fascinated by art that asks a lot of questions": DiS Meets Jenny Wilson



Left-arrow

Dartz

The Sad History Of The Village Of Alnerique

Mobback
42539
42613

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone

Town Topic EP

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    review


    Christina Vantzou - No. 4

  • 105534
  • Column


    The Fangasm: The Midnight Organ Fight by Fright...

  • 105533

    review


    Laura Veirs - The Lookout

  • 105532
  • review


    Eels - The Deconstruction

  • 105531

    review


    A Place To Bury Strangers - Pinned

  • 105530
  • Interview


    "I am fascinated by art that asks a lot of ques...

  • 105529

    Planet Gear


    Planet Gear: Erland Cooper

  • 105528
  • Interview


    Evolution and Equilibrium: DiS Meets Wye Oak

  • 105527
MORE


    feature


    A Month in Records: August 2008

  • 33467
  • review


    Coldplay - Ghost Stories

  • 95631

    review


    Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

  • 7335
  • feature


    Cursive - Six Recorded Highlights

  • 45147

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • review


    Kate Nash - Made Of Bricks

  • 26283

    DiScover


    DiScover: Friendly Fires

  • 93726
  • news


    DiS curates the #IndependentMusicMonday Playlist

  • 101788
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2018 DROWNED IN SOUND