Hudson Mohawke – Butter (2009) [Warp] // Grade: B+

Glasgow producer Ross Birchard (a.k.a. Hudson Mohawke or HudMo) is one of those kids for whom music comes involuntarily. The way most of us walk and breathe: that’s how HudMo produces. Started with the tables at 11. Became the youngest UK DMC DJ Championship finalist at 15. Produced a slew of buzzed about singles and collabs, then signed with Warp right around 21. And now, at 23,  is helping to pioneer one of the most interesting UK electro movements of recent memory: glitch hop, aqua crunk, whatever you call the 90s-centric 8-bit hip-hop HudMo so perfectly produces.

Think of it this way: Butter (HudMo’s full-length debut) is the musical equivalent to a Lisa Frank folder. Chaotic, ultra-bright neon that sends your head spinning in a deliriously happy sugar rush. There’s not an ounce of cynicism, or even aged sophistication; it’s all ridiculously stoked party tracks built on manic glitches and a real affection for dub-step and 90s hip-hop. Tracks like “Gluetooth” and “Velvet Peel” go frantic with pitched-up vocal samples sliced to their most minute, like an even more hysterical Squarepusher, while the slightly smoother “Joy Fantastic” (featuring Olivier Daysoul on a velour-soaked Prince meets Outkast vibe) and “Rising 5″ reference R&B directly, albeit through a frenetic avant lens. The entire thing feels produced on a Gameboy, but Butter doesn’t suffer for it; the cheap video-game electronics are precisely what make the album so fresh.

But a caveat: HudMo isn’t for the faint of heart. You’ve got to have a serious penchant for this sort of panic-attack glitch to stomach most of Butter. Sure, the album is awash in melody, but those melodies are rarely one synth, one take, one line; it’s all a sort of hodge-podge mash-up that lets up only occasionally (most notably on the icy-dark “Star Crackout”) and tends to be a bit much for one solid listen. If you’re inclined to hate so much tinkering, you’ll absolutely loathe this album. But if you’ve got a thing for day-glo unicorns and the odd sugar binge (and maybe a touch of ADHD), HudMo’s glowing chaos is exactly right.

- Rue Sauvage