Freaks & Icons

Already own the entire Kruder & Dorfmeister disography? No worries. The city of Vienna is sending more blunted beats your way in the form of Dzhian and Kamien. The downbeat capital's latest exports are much more than K&D clones, however. This is their own special brand of Sunday morning headfunk. Turkish-flavored tracks such as "Slowhand Hussein" and "Just You & I" open the Outcaste crew's bag of table tricks and let it breathe on the back porch of the Cafe del Mar. The jazz-laced "Where Are We?" and "After" imagine the Thievery Corporation out of their trademark debonair threads and in rainbow wigs and clown shoes. Dzihan & Kamien even try their hand at slightly more traditional pop structures on "Smile," in which an Edie Brickell-ish vocalist trips over a shifty typerwriter-as-rhythm-track beat. Equal parts quirk, groove, and experimentation make a pretty savory tonic. --Bob Michaels