CD reviews

WHAT SO NOT Not All the Beautiful Things

FESTIVALS. The What So Not sound is tailor-made for festivals. From the world-shaking bass of Warlord to the shimmering future-bass of Be OK

Again to the hug-a-stranger sing-along house tune Beautiful to head-banger Goh, What So Not has got every mood a crowd might be looking for well and truly covered.

Demons is the first of a few hip-hop jams, which shows some versatility in his sound. Then slow jam Stuck In Orbit flirts with pop music (albeit a bit crunchy and scrunchy in the back end). Is there anything this guy can’t do? The album’s production stays at a high quality throughout, while the guest collaborators — from random DJs and producers to vocalists — run the gamut from people you know vaguely (Winona Oak, Rome Fortune, Michael Christmas) to decent names (Skrillex, San Holo) to genuine stars (Silverchair’s Daniel Johns on three songs).

Sidebar: If Johns’s solo album sounded more like this work with WSN, it would have been 100 per cent more exciting than the dud he delivered. They are a deadly duo. And then What So Not takes a detour to Rocktown with Toto, yes, Africa Toto. What on Earth are they doing on an electronic music album? Somehow, improbably, the song works a treat. What So Not has delivered an impeccable album here. While it jumps around nuttily from genre to genre, it doesn’t come across as messy. Instead, it feels cohesive.