ALBUMSREVIEWS 7.0
My Favorite Robot Atomic Age No.19 Music Improving with Age?
The second full long-player from Toronto triumvirate My Favorite Robot — aka James Teej, Jared Simms and Voytek Korab — following their 2009 debut set ‘We Come In Pieces’ drops via Jonny White’s eminent No.19 Music. It would be rude to ignore a long-format meeting of two such mainstays of the current Canadian scene, and by this evidence, you probably wouldn’t want to. Affection for grand, sprawling soundscapes and ‘80s synth work is foremost on ‘Atomic Age’, as is affection for Depeche Mode, the Human League, and Tangerine Dream, all possible touchstones here. ‘Home’, with MFR family member Clayton Steele, is irresistible, as is the strutting, acidic title track, flecked as much with ‘80s boogie sensibility as it is with the 303. But it’s perhaps the moodiness of ‘Centreofattentionaut’ that best encompasses this subtly gorgeous set, an object lesson in ghostly disco. Ben Arnold
8.0
Screamin’ Rachael Screamin’ Rachael: Queen of House Trax Records Queen of the Chicago scene
A deliciously varied retrospective of work by current Trax Records president and all- round Chicago music pioneer, Screamin’ Rachael? The 32-track journey calls off at punk, garage blues, and piano house. Indicative of a refreshingly diverse and unarguably impressive career, en route we witness the results of her time spent with pioneers like Marshall Jefferson, Afrika Bambaataa and Frankie Knuckles. Providing a unique perspective on Windy City club sounds coming to life, and an insight into a life spent working with many seemingly disparate genres, it’s proof routes can be plotted between Todd Terry’s energetic ‘InHouse Radio Mix’ of ‘U Used To Hold Me’, and the lo-fi rock ‘n’ roll dominating ‘Bad Influence’ — both featured here. But, correlations and history lessons aside, more vitally this is evidence of how important difference and cross-pollination are to the development of all we hear. Martin Guttridge-Hewitt
7.5
John Wizards John Wizards Planet Mu African magic
South Africa is proving a fertile ground for electronic music, from the house fusions of Pretoria to Soweto’s super-fast skeletal dance sound Shangaan electro. John Wizards, a new band from Cape Town, are the latest addition to that illustrious number. The lovely, tender vocals of Emmanuel Nzaramba lead a shapeshifting group that switches style song to song, but retains its own very individual sound. ‘Lusaka By Night’ is a lovely dubbed-out reggae skank of African high life melodies and indie guitar, ‘Limpop’ is a frenetic Shangaan shake, and ‘I’m Still A Serious Guy’ is a little like Vampire Weekend if their tongues weren’t smugly planted in-cheek. ‘Iyongwe’ even gets its ‘80s disco gladrags on, and elsewhere, it’s a mad blend of African folk, dub, electronics, full-on rock and wilful experimentation, stitched together with freaky songwriting genius. Weird but mostly
wonderful.Ben Murphy
8.0
Damiano von Erckert Love Based Music Ava We love you Based Music
As far as Cologne-based labels go, Ava may have some way to go before they’re shoulder to shoulder with Kompakt. Even so, the small scale, ostensibly deep house label shows plenty of promise (and even more heart) with its debut release from Ava founder Damiano von Erckert. From the humid, slo-mo house shapes of ‘All Good’ — with echoes of John Talabot in its loveworn, loose-woven groove — to the back-in-the-day hip-hop interlude ‘Sweet and Soul’ complete with fusty soul sample, the tissue that holds the record together is precisely what it claims on the immaculately designed cover: love. Sure, there’s a weak spot for classicism which could be taken for nostalgia (Von Erckert’s 2011 flagship record, the bumping, ‘90s- infatuated ‘Housem’ is, unsurprisingly, the biggest thing here) but as debuts go, ‘Love Based Music’ is looking squarely ahead. Louise Brailey
Jessy Lanza
Pull My Hair Back Hyperdub
9.0 Speaking in Kode9
FOLLOWING last month’s ‘Aerotropolis’, Ikonika’s outstanding follow-up to ‘Contact, Love, Want, Have’, comes a definitive debut LP from Jessy Lanza. After she featured on Ikonika’s first-ever vocal track (‘Beach Mode (Keep It Simple)’), Kode9 recognized her potential, snapping her up for an album. And here we have it. Junior Boys’ Jeremy Greenspan (on co- production) is a welcome choice to help bring Jessy’s world to life in context of an album. To focus purely on Jessy’s r&b leanings would do a lazy disservice to an album which, while borrowing saccharine soul-pop touches from early Mariah or Lucy Pearl,
slides along the bleeding edge of electronic music today, subtly touching on elements of footwork (‘5785021’), techno/house (‘Fuck Diamond’) and even cloud rap/ trap (‘Pull My Hair Back’), while throwing back to understated, glitchy forms of electro, disco and boogie.
The sum of all parts is a contender for the most sophisticated r&b album we’ve encountered in recent years, running along a similar vein to New Look and the Julio Bashmore-supported Jessie Ware. ‘Pull My Hair Back’ is a soulful, debonair and clearly conceived triumph, deserving of repeat rotations. Adam Saville
djmag.com 073
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104