ALBUM REVIEWS
Delphic
MONE
Y
Acolyte
SHO
T!
Polydor
The new order has arrived
In January 1992, Warp icons LFO memorably appeared on music’s (let’s not call it indie dance — please) spiritual home 21st Century’s answer to Holland-Dozier-Holland, the hit
the cover of the NME laying waste to a bunch of guitars. De- of Manchester, have got it nailed perfectly. As anyone who production team of Xenomania.
spite being an undoubtedly provocative cover, in hindsight has heard their singles ‘Counterpoint’ and ‘This Momentary’ Opener ‘Clarion Call’ is just that; a clear mandate full of
it’s been damned as short-sighted because its inference will testify. emotive rave stabs and dancefl oor-hugging squiggles.
— guitars are dead, dance music is the future — never fully Produced in its entirety by Ewan Pearson, ‘Acolyte’ takes Forthcoming single ‘Doubt’ is the album’s most avowedly
came to pass. this triumph of the imagination one step further. Not only New Order moment, while both ‘Submission’ and ‘This
Thankfully, Delphic have no worries on that score. To badly is the late-’80s electronic pop of ‘Technique’-era New Order Momentary’ are pop music par excellence.
paraphrase The Blues Brothers they play both kinds of music and the early work of Underworld, Orbital and The Chemical ‘Acolyte’, then, is the fi rst great record of the second decade
— acid ‘n’ house and rock & roll. Brothers obvious touchstones, but buried deep within of this century and it fl ies its fl ag effortlessly.
And whereas most groups who try to coalesce the guitar’s ‘Acolyte’ are shades of Spiritualized’s swoonsome fl oating Delphic are not the past and, heck, they might not even be
primal qualities with the instinctive nature of dance music sonics; the electronic experimentation of Renegade Sound- the future. But as of 2010, they are the present and that’s
do so in a hackneyed manner, Delphic, who hail from this wave; the theatrical pop of The Pet Shop Boys and even the plenty good enough for now. Jim Butler
Four Tet Diarmaid O’Meara Fool’s Gold Dare & Haste
There Is Love In You Structured Noise Fool’s Gold The Sinister Sound System
Domino Gobsmacked I Am Sound Advanced
An unsung star shines Some noise annoys Global sounds, LA style Nicely gnarly Brum-tech
Although he probably wouldn’t want to It sounds like O’Meara was listening to Dub- For a city housing every possible national If the shuffl ing of minimal and the fey fl imsi-
countenance it, Kieran Hebden has been one fi re when he was producing ‘Noise’. Like the idiom imaginable, Los Angeles’ recent musi- ness of electro leaves you aching for some
of the undoubted stars of the noughties. former Deep Dish producer, some of ‘Noise’ cal legacy appears to solely extend to clichéd techno that’s altogether more dense, intense
But while part of post-rock pioneers Fridge centres around slamming minimalist grooves Sunset Strip metal and the equally predict- and adrenaline-pumping, get ready to grit
and a collaborator with everyone from Steve and huge blasts of white noise. able gangsta rap. your teeth with joy over this debut longplayer
Reid to Burial, it’s as Four Tet that he’s most While O’Meara could be accused of peddling Praise be then for Fool’s Gold — an amor- from Dare & Haste — not a duo, just one man,
renowned. a formula, his rougher, more under-produced phous collective of musicians who fully Birmingham’s Martin J Radcliffe.
His four albums to date — in particular 2003’s approach means that tracks like the droning represent LA’s multicultural melting pot. Balancing razor-sharp sound design with rip-
exquisite ‘Rounds’ — displayed his versatile ‘Drag Queen’ and the crunchy, distorted beats What that means in essence is African music, pling, feral energy levels, ‘The Sinister Sound
talents in assured fashion. of ‘Paranoia’ are less conformist than those but African music melded to pop, rock ’n’ roll System’ has an unabashedly old-school feel.
And yet, he’s still to have something ap- who inspired him — which is a good thing. and, on the likes of the hypnotic ‘Poseidon’ ‘Sinister Hardware’, for example, recalls
proaching a hit, which is where the fantastic He also isn’t afraid to take infl uence from a and ‘Momentary Shelter’, even Krautrock. the work of ’90s UK techno pioneer The
‘There Is Love In You’ comes in. wider spectrum than many new school mini- Opening track, the percussive ‘Surprise Hypnotist, while the panicky ‘Aeon Synthesis’
Informed by early acid house and what malists. A muddy bass that wouldn’t sound Hotel’, sets the stall out perfectly with a pul- would’ve sent a circa-’96 Tresor dancefl oor
appears to be a mild fl irtation with UK funky, out of place in a purist canon fuels ‘Drop Dead sating rhythm section. A James Brown horn into complete wibbling meltdown.
this is joyously emotive stuff as the likes of Gorgeous’, heavy breaks power ‘Die section propels ‘Nadine’, while ‘Ha Dvash’ Like his fellow Brummies Surgeon and Regis,
‘Circling’, the hypnotic ‘Angel Echoes’ and Francois Die’ and ‘Disco Murderer’ sees and ‘The World Is All There Is’ are heat-soaked Dare & Haste is a master at fashioning jack-
the haunting folktronica of ‘This Unfolds’ all O’Meara frame his noisy percussion and desert blues. hammer tracks that engage both the brain
attest. Could that be a Mercury nod in the drums against a melodic backdrop. Celebratory music reminiscent of forward- and the body, and there’s a real sense of fun
post? Jim Butler If this unusual approach continues, he could thinking groups like Talking Heads, there’s and funk amidst all the bug-eyed relentless-
be onto something special. Richard Brophy nothing foolish about Fool’s Gold. Jim Butler ness. Joe Madden
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