ALBUMSREVIEWS 9.0
Gramme Fascination Tummy Touch Punk-funk heroes return
They’re certainly not reinventing the wheel, but Gramme have got something special going on. And this, their true debut album, is a realisation of the kinetic energy and boundless potential they hinted at with debut EP ‘Pre-Release’ for Trevor Jackson’s ultra-cool Output label back in 1999. The band catalysed the millennial explosion of disco-punk and no-wave that other groups like The Rapture and LCD Soundsystem capitalised on, and the raw power of their tunes, such as ‘Like You’, became lost classics. It’s reassuring for fans that they’ve not changed a whole lot in that time. The funk, effortless groove, sass and flavour remains intact, this time with added textures drawn from acid house, techno and dub. ‘Laugh Out Loud’ is a song built for clubs, and its 4/4s, warehouse bleeps and gashes of treated echoic guitar noise, not to mention lush vox from Sam Lynham, are pure adrenaline. A band who can truly cut it on the dancefloor.
Wicked.Ben Murphy
K-X-P II
Melodic Tip-top psyche-out
You (probably) won’t see Finnish trio K-X-P blasting out 4/4 club bangers at a sweaty Dalston basement party. What you will see is a group who have perfected an enticing blend of trippy, electronic pop-driven adventures based loosely on Krautrock sensibilities. Speaking of the K-word, there are echoes of Fujiya & Miyagi in ‘II’, but whereas F&M highlight the genre’s softer, minimal elements, K-X-P rip off the wilder chunks floated by groups like Can, infusing them with a ruffed-up post-punk and disco ethic. As such, this is far more than ‘just’ Krautrock. Witness the LCD Soundsystem- esque disco-funk of ‘The Magnetic North’, the brooding, icy synths in ‘Melody’, or the layered psychedelic bounce in almost every track. There’s a lot of energy and musicality fizzing around on ‘II’, and all of it is put to fine use in this heady, multicoloured gem. Tristan Parker
8.0
Trus’Me 9.0
The Asphodells Ruled By Passion Destroyed By Lust Rotters Golf Club Lust for life
This debut album from Edwardian dandy Andrew Weatherall and studio whiz Timothy J.Fairplay sees the duo explore some of the sounds that emanate from Andy’s current club night, A Love From Outer Space. A co-mingling concoction of favourite sounds, from live-sounding punk-funk, to Augustus Pablo dub melodica, to sub-heavy house to the melodic oscillations of Krautrock, techno and ambience, it’s a trip indeed. A highly memorable one, some of Andy’s best work since ‘Screamadelica’ and the heyday of the Sabres Of Paradise and Two Lone Swordsmen in fact. ‘Beglammered’ is an Arabesque electro disco caper, the synth machinations and insouciant indie guitar of ‘Another Lonely City’ grab the heart and head, while ‘Late Flowering Lust’ sees poet John Betjeman transported to a sticky- floored punk disco at 10am. Passionate, lusty, nearly
perfect.Ben Murphy
7.0
Justin Velor 2013 Brutal Music Giant peaks, plentiful troughs
Justin Velor is an anonymous Mancunian producer, working in perma-collaboration with 808 State’s Graham Massey and Doves frontman Jez Williams to create a kaleidoscopic mash-up of pulsating disco, noisy techno, jackin’ house and synth operatics — if you’re familiar with DC Recordings’ lauded 2003-2007 output, Velor’s sound is kinda reminiscent of that, if maybe a touch scruffier. Besides Massey and Williams, Velor (if, in fact, Velor exists at all, and is not merely a front for Massey and Williams) has assembled a bizarre roster of collaborators for this debut album, including Teenage Fanclub’s Gerry Love, Belle & Sebastian’s Chris Geddes and Lee E John of ’80s pop-soulsters Imagination. The result is a handful of monster-sized bangers — ‘Galliano Rocks’ and ‘Back To The Source’ are particularly mighty — interspersed with aimless, self- indulgent doodles. A killer mini-album, then, in a meh-album’s clothing. Joe Madden
Treat Me Right Prime Numbers
8.5 A right treat
THE sign of a truly decent artist is an unwillingness to stand still; fixate on a single idea like a moth round a lampshade. Manchester’s David Wolstencroft is someone all too aware of this. After delivering an authentic exploration of disco, future funk and boogie within a house context when tired dancefloors really needed it (2009), he’s returned with his third LP to breathe new life into the formula again. Sharing more in common with the tough warehouse grooves of Kris Wadsworth and the quirky beatnik techno of Luke Solomon than the palm tree house hipsters who hijacked Trus’Me’s train during the first part of the ‘10s, ‘Treat Me Right’ is essential house and techno with a vintage sensibility.
Finding a place on his Prime Numbers imprint, which ventured into dark, techier realms with releases from DVS1, Terrence Dixon and Nick Sinna in 2012, opener ‘Hindsight’ is eerie Chicago house as capacious and raw as that penned by Tevo Howard. As the name might infer, ‘Tes Une Pute’ is a chunky Latin groover with crisp percussion and a warm underbelly of sub bass, ‘I Want You’ is growling tunnel techno and ‘It’s Slow’ is a woozy Italo looper with extra gristle. Picking off a series of styles in quick succession, ‘Treat Me Right’ is breaking new ground; this man’s classy new clothes, his brand new beat manifesto. Adam Saville
djmag.com 055
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