San Francisco dub duo Otaku is comprised of brothers Colonel 32 and NaN. They've been performing as Otaku since early 1998, but Bitwise Operators is their debut full-length. It is heavily influenced by the Orb, Bill Laswell and illbientism. As you would expect, boxy drum snippets, phat, repetitive basslines and moody atmospheres prevail. Track one, "Hmmmm…", starts out like something from DJ Spooky's Songs of a Dead Dreamer, but moves right into "Barbarian Whores", which is funkier and more melodic. "Life in Plastic" starts with a barrage of samples that's strongly reminiscent of Coldcut's work. The comparison only holds up for the first minute, though; after that, the track settles down into a heavy, electro-funk groove. "Dub Bass One" and "Dub Bass Two" are more moody and ambient. Snatches of disembodied sound float in and out, as do reverb-drenched beats and fuzzy basslines.

Pop culture references abound throughout Bitwise Operators; from the Homer Simpson samples to the Kevin Nealon samples to the Hooverphonic samples, pop culture-philes will have a field day. But for me, this is the disc's biggest weakness. Most of these samples are so easily identiable that they detract from the aura of ethereal spaciness the music has created. When I'm floating around in some unearthly soundscape, suddenly hearing Homer Simpson say "If you don't like your job, you don't quit! You just go to work every day and do it really half-ass! That's the American way!" has a way of putting my feet back on the ground in an undesirable way. On the other hand, as far as dubby, spacy, illbient-inspired albums go, Bitwise Operators isn't bad at all. I've listened to it at least six times now and find it sufficiently interesting and sufficiently unobtrusive. I'd just like it to have a bit more mystery!