ALBUMSREVIEWS
FaltyDL
Hardcourage Ninja Tune
9.5 Falt(less)DL
TAKING a leap of faith, Drew Lustman made his way from Planet Mu to Ninja Tune with the ‘Atlantis EP’ in October 2011; a fruitful relationship that’s since garnered two singles — ‘Straight & Arrow’ and ‘Hardcourage’. The previous March, his sophomore album, ‘You Stand Uncertain’ on Planet Mu, might have impressed, but this, ‘Hardcourage (LP)’, is simply on another level. While the former tred a slightly erratic journey through math electronica, nebulous two-step and swampy house, the latter offers more by way of consistency without dwelling on a limited set of ideas or succumbing to repetition. The stepped beats are still here — as are the 4/4s — but the
overriding sense is that Drew’s creative identity has cemented. Rather than picking from fractured influences, ‘Hardcourage’ is a more centralised vision; controlled to a point previously only hinted at. We always knew FaltyDL had exceptional production acumen, sure, but never this kind of sublimity. Opting for continuity, the album is summed and set up by ‘Stay I’m Changed’; its scatty, reverberated percussion, airy ‘Ambient Works’ chords and heavy analogue wiggles, less notable for track functionality than for their overall texture. ‘She Sleeps’ is a wave of breezy dream-pop through a house filter (vocals courtesy of Ed from Friendly
Fires), while ‘Straight & Arrow’, with its sweet fidgeting melody, taut bassline and heart-twisting vocal samples, sounds even better here, afforded the space to blossom more fully out of the fertile sonic soil laid either side of it. The harmonic ‘Uncea’ is Four Tet with added sub- bass, ‘For Karme’ is grime for music students on MDMA, while the only discordant moment — the off- key Y3K jazz-funk of ‘Kenny Rolls One’ — borrows a leaf from Floating Points’ scrapbook. Spreading out as a finely knitted series of sonic ideas, the wider picture is a kaleidoscope spiralling mellifluously — the sum of all parts merging into perfect cohesion. Adam Saville
8.0
Kris Wadsworth Life & Death Get Physical
Dark comedy
It’s become a cliché too often ill-applied but Atlanta-born, Detroit-raised Kris Wadsworth really is that rare thing: an iconoclast. With a hatred of dance flakes, he’s built his intransigent rep as an outsider with a small cabal of trusted labels and allies, never afraid to speak his mind about what he finds distasteful in today’s scene. It’s doubtful he would have acquired such a cult status for his frankness alone. Kris behind the boards or decks is usually worth 100 techno bores. Debut album opener ‘Definition Of’ is a fusillade of cranked, grungy machine bass, Kris’ distinctive, scraping tech sound melting like a liquid alloy into lush pads and crisp rhythms. His savage humour is never far from the surface, as the bumpin’ house groove and “fuck ‘em” samples of ‘Showtime’ attest; later, ‘Famous Anus’ rips the piss out of producers who make vocal tracks to attain fame. Disturbingly brilliant. Ben Murphy
054
djmag.com
Ian Pooley What I Do Pooled
Damn good disco
With a repertoire spreading over 20 years, Ian Pooley has more than proved his worth as a producer of exceptional house and disco. His label, Pooled Music, has only matured, serving as the most prevalent home for his succulent, club-ready cuts. He already has six albums to his name; the last, 2008’s ‘In Other Words’, not only marked his distinguished path even further, it dared to touch on ground ruled at the time by Morgan Geist. Now, with this, his seventh, he’s edged a little closer to basics, drawing on the momentum garnered from the current vogue for chunky house music with disco sensibilities to nail an album of gilt-leaf standard in a saturated scene at times afflicted by mediocrity. Slow to start but once going, it oozes with glitterball refinery — quirky Kraut-pop, slo-mo filter funk, chunky 4/4 fare and beyond. ‘What I Do’ is more than solid. A must only for the most dedicated. Lisa Loveday
8.5
10
Melody’s Echo Chamber Melody’s Echo Chamber Weird World/Domino Shoegaze swoon
Discoveries like this don’t come along often. For those who’ve ever wondered what a love-in between Slowdive, DJ Shadow, the Silver Apples and Pram would sound like, may we present Aix-en-Provence-born and Paris-based Melody Prochet? Her astral vocals, synths and gorgeous distorted clouds of guitar combine mesmerically with the breakbeat- like drums and hip-hop indebted basslines of production partner Kevin Parker (of Aussie psyche rockers Tame Impala) to coalesce a sonic Aurora Borealis across this flawless debut. ‘Snowcapped Andes Crash’ is a stately drum-heavy waltz of treated orchestras and gorgeous vox, like floating in a death dream above the downed plane, ‘Mount Hopeless’ is The Flaming Lips lounging with Jane Birkin at a Broadcast fan convention; ‘Endless Shore’ is the indie-dance anthem that never was. Referential it may sound, but Melody has her own thing going on. A future classic, this writer’s smitten. Ben Murphy
Erdbeerschnitzel Tender Leaf Mirau Wonky pop
The record label started by Tensnake, Mirau, has lived a varied life during its first seven years. With releases from Mano Le Tough, the headman and Bjørke and Barfod, it’s by no means short of quality. Following a fairly decent album from Iron Curtis is another album, this time from German producer Erdbeerschnitzel (translated strawberry schnitzel). Taking the warped, wonky pop of someone like Hudson Mohawke, spinning it with the avant-garde sensibility of FlyLo, while injecting the viscous, putty-like texture of Floating Points or FaltyDL, ‘Tender Leaf’ (unlike the artist’s namesake) is a tasty treat. On the whole, it may not impact as immediately as his aforementioned peers — even if ‘Wait’ is irresistibly cheesy r&b put through a blender — and its underlying soulful house mentality won’t win over some serious bass heads. However, there’s no doubting this is an accomplished and angular LP spinning with ideas. Adam Saville
8.0
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