Laugh tracks

>> Mocean Worker lightens up on his latest disc

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Talk about getting mileage for your dollar. Ring up musician/producer Adam Dorn, aka Mocean Worker, for an unexpected interview and ask him to take five from his session work. He'll give you 40, pontificating, enlightening and cracking you up.

Dorn's the kind of guy who takes his music seriously--son of Grammy-winnin' jazz producer Joel Dorn, he's been in the studio environment since he was old enough to spill chocolate milk all over a soundboard, hanging with greats like Yusef Lateef and the Neville Brothers.

He doesn't take things too seriously, though. In fact, he's not afraid to get downright goofy. Hell, overt goofiness fuels a good half of his new disc Aural & Hearty, in many ways an about-face from the deep, rich, dark drum & bass sounds of his first two discs, Home Movies From the Brainforest and Mixed Emotional Features, which found him on Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures label.

"It's like this album and the last one are brothers," Dorn explains. "The last one was the quiet kid who sat in the back of the class, this one's the kid in the front row, the smart alec big- mouth, always being funny. Or at least, he thinks he's funny. They're both sides of me, but anyone who knows me will tell you I'm an opinionated big-mouth--but benign."

This he is, which makes him a pleasure to chat with. He can find the funny side of most anything, so it's not surprising that the title's a play on Laurel & Hardy, and his "love to" list in the liner notes is stacked with props to lost comedy greats--Sid Ceasar, Shecky Green, Don Knotts, Henny Youngman and of course ol' Lenny. "While I was doing this record, I had this Lenny Bruce live-at-Carnegie-Hall CD that I listened to over and over, about 30 times. He was brilliant, the Charlie Parker of comedy."

E-dance smorgasbord

The upshot, then, is an album loaded with humour, from joy-buzzer novelty tracks to sneaky asides. That this CD is largely a wacky romp to Mixed Emotional Features' more shadowy, pensive mood is only half the story, though. What else is neat is how many bases it covers in terms of e-dance styles. There's trance ("Intothinair," the first single), breakbeat silliness ("Hey Baby") and filtery, Frenchy house ("Astroglide"). There's the kitschy popcorn tracks "Très Très Chic" and "Cha Cha Cha," and the dope downtempo track "Black Velvet Sky," his favourite and mine too. There's also the uncategorizably cool numbers "Thick Interlude" and "Waiting for Verdeaux." Take a wild guess what's not in there, though.

"It's not a drum & bass album!" One can hear him shake his fist at the heavens over this one. "I keep reading these reviews--they're really positive, but they keep calling it drum & bass, which is the one thing it's not. It's like they didn't even listen to it. They liked the last one, so they guessed they'd like this too. You know, I don't even really think the first two were drum & bass, either, for that matter, but this one is clearly anything but."

U2 and Dorn, too

Dorn makes it clear that his motivation was to make a party album, something people could dance to--oh, hell, not not dance to. He wanted to do something that, when taken into a live setting, would get a room up and moving. At the same time, he's aware that people want a performance, so it's all pretty much sampled, sequenced and played live, on the spot.

"Know what's weird? I'll do a whole show, and there's always one girl who comes up to me afterwards and goes, 'Wow, like, you're such a good DJ!' There aren't even any turntables up there!"

Know what's weirder? Despite doing a near-comprehensive guide to the latest e-dance trends (like that? E-dance? Made it up myself), Dorn insists that he pays little attention to electronica--he's happiest with the classic jazz he was raised on, and gives props to U2.

The props came back when Dorn worked on the soundtrack to Bono-scripted Wim Wenders flick Million Dollar Hotel. The hookup was made by old family friend Hal Willner, who's also got Dorn in on doing music for Saturday Night Live.

Million Dollar Hotel found Dorn working with Bono (who gave him a vocal riff for the tune "Air Suspension" on Aural & Hearty), Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. He was understandably nervous, at first. "It's like, they were the old pros and I was the kid from the farm leagues in North Carolina." That may be, but man, the kid can nail a homerun.

With the New Deal at Club Soda on Friday, Nov. 10