Bassnectar Serves Up His Unique Crosspollination of Sounds

Electronica can, at times, seem cold and distant. Lorin Ashton, who goes by the stage name Bassnectar is doing his best to dispel that rumor. His latest, "Va Va Voom", does a commendable job blending homestyle touches into his futuristic landscape. "Ping Pong" shows how funked up you can make a teensy white ball sound. With "Butterfly" images of butterflies swirling on a front porch on a sultry Friday night are easily understandable. "Laughter Crescendo" comforts listeners with the easygoing echo of human bliss. The common thread between the title track and "What" is noise trickery summoning up time spent at the local video arcade. What makes these add-ins delectable is the agility with which chord changes get made. "Va Va Voom" brims with keyboarding joie de vivre. Bassnectar is quite adept at knowing what to paint when using the galaxy of sound as his canvas.