Too Many Names: Chizawa Q

Talk about a weird first impression: the initial track on Chizawa Q’s MySpace page flails around like a club goer hopped up on one Red Bull Vodka too many. The neon-bright synths seem like enough, but then enters some vocals ripped straight from the Chilled Dub compilation CD sold during late night commercial breaks. It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination, it’s just so…busy.

It’s a red herring, because the rest of Chizawa Q’s MySpace-available tracks keep things much more minimalist. “Hallucination” rides a steady beat while various noises flash by, more sounds passing by as the song builds up to further disorient the listener. Things get tuned down even more on “Tinnitus” as only semi-submerged beats take the spotlight (save for some unsettling radio wave-ish sound lurking in the air. The standout number, though, is the squiggly “Broccoli.” Chizawa has more aliases than any dude on The Wire, going by names like Slur, Samurai United, Farbe and (funniest of all) Jetbikini. So finding stuff by the guy isn’t always easy. But when you do…good times.