Pit Er Pat – The Flexible Entertainer (2010) [Thrill Jockey] // Grade: B

Thrill Jockey’s avant-rhythm darlings Pit Er Pat have consistently created music for an audience who prefer their genre boundaries blurred and enjoy the challenge of a little adventurous complexity. The duo of Fay Davis-Jeffers and Butchy Fuego offer up a surprisingly energetic, and at times, even dancey, release with The Flexible Entertainer, a unique album conceived for live performance at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival.

Immediately noticeable is that the duo’s usual drum and keyboard preferences are mostly shed, replaced with programmed beats and synth, landing The Flexible Entertainer somewhere between the dub and jazz influenced downtempo electronica of Bonobo and the eclectic hip-hop inspired dance grooves of Telepathe. From the traditional instrumentation to the beats, the backing across the album remains consistently minimal, giving off an ominous feeling of cold restraint only amped up further by Jeffers’ detached vocals.

Rhythm is the crux of any Pit Er Pat release, so it comes as no surprise that Fuego’s as highly capable behind the knobs as he is behind a drum kit. “Water” is a brilliant hip-hop inspired ride, indie’s answer to both Timbaland and the Neptunes. “Nightroom” makes use of tropicalia beats, juxtaposed with dark, minimal bass giving the whole track an eerie Grindhouse quality. “Summer Rose” and “Emperor of Charms” continue the spiral darker as Jeffers’ vocals take on an even most distant and icy quality against tribal drum circle backing.

All eight of the album selections are allowed to ride out past the melody lines and into rhythmic breakdowns and that’s the truly special quality at play. Pit Er Pat accurately replicate their live experience in recorded format across The Flexible Entertainer, but it ultimately leaves me feeling like much of the surprise will be gone the next time I see them face to face.