The DYI movement has a long, storied history in punk scene that’s left a trail of ‘zines, homespun labels and bands that manage their own affairs in its wake. The dance scene encapsulated this aesthetic when it sprang out of illegal early-90″s raves, but consumer culture soon exerted its stranglehold. Enter Brooklyn’s Codek collective, headed by musician/artist Sasha Crnobrnja and Alex Gloor whose home-produced “organic grooves” (as they call their fusion of funk-worldbeat- triphop) and hand-screened graphics have arrived to brighten up the scene. Their tougue-in-cheek “Stop shopping, Start crafting” campaign throws down the gauntlet at their listeners to recharge DIY values in dance music. Immerse yourself in the thick, instrumental walls of grooves on “popsickle Sticks, Beads and Glue”. where drum machines, djimbe loops, and wild flanged bass lines hop along to a Brooklyn gait. Elsewhere, Ukrainian jazz trumpet samples get fed through druggy, effected analog synths with dancehall-bouncing Middle-Eastern hand drums (“I’ll Fitting Tunic”) while well-aged disco-house betas get retrofitted with a Flabba Holt bass treatment (“Fantastic Craftsman”). That’s about four continents in two songs! Not unlike an advancement of Ninja Tunes stalwarts Up, Bustle And Out’s confident flamenco-trip-hop, DJ Sasha effortlessly stirs the the melting pot of ethno-riddim with simmering results.

Create something! Create Something! Create Something! Fuck it if it’s not perfect. Flaws bring flavor and flavor brings feeling! Sasha Crnobrnja provides inspiration for Summer camp flunkies and shopping mall junkies on “Stop Shopping, Start Crafting.” The man behind Codek and the Organic Grooves parties in NYC has already established the fact he doesn’t color within the lines. His first LP brings the point home riding on lopsided plexiglass oxen. Can this music be categorized? They say file under: Trip Hop, Leftfield, Cosmic. Am I wasting my time. No, that is the point, this is uncategorizable by name but fits many comfortable niches by vibe. I’ll give it a go and throw something at you…Sounds of the World with shaky bead stoned folk banjo slangin’ hippy flip flops with mad dub echoes. Fuck it… Put this in the player and you get “Let’s Make a Cap” which starts off with some ancient strings then jumps into a faded pygmy who bops around to some roots style drums with rubbery bass. Sasha surely earned his Boy Scout merit badge with “Ill Fitting Tunic.” He must have stayed up all night fashioning those Spanish trumpets to fit so nicely with metallic drums, and somehow a thumping dancehall bassline. The soap box derby is won with “Hut Made of Dung.” It cruises down the lane with groovy organs and crisp drums before deep analog stabs drop in to accompany the snares as they get their flange on. If you missed the Smithsonian Folkways series buy this album. It has nothing to do with the Smithsonian Folkways and will make you forget you ever thought about that in the first place. This music has a true Earthy feel. You might not know who Sasha with the strange last name is yet but soon you will. This is just the tip of the iceberg as he slowly lifts the covering from his sound. dub diagnosis: Are Sasha’s drum machines and samplers made out of punched leather and paper mache?
CD review by Mark “frosty” McNeill” at DUBLAB.COM (December 1999)