ALBUMSREVIEWS 7.0
Nu:Logic What I’ve Always Waited For Hospital Records Jungle brothers
For the uninitiated, Nu:Logic is a collaborative project between the brothers Gresham, better known individually as veteran Hospital Records acts Nu:Tone and Logistics, who’ve clocked up no less than seven Hospital long-players between them. Their first-ever joint album opens in fine style with ‘Morning Light’, a yearning, Reprazent-esque roller that perfectly showcases the brothers’ shared ability to meld floaty-light melodiousness with insistent dancefloor energy. From there, it’s a breakneck sweep from one beautifully produced mini-symphony to the next, with the fun levels only dropping on ‘We Live There’ (featuring DRS), a brooding, reggae-hop paean to the mean streets of the Greshams’ hometown — erm, Cambridge. Note to every d&b artist ever: please don’t feel like you have to put a downtempo track on your album. Joe Madden
Morris Cowan Six Degrees Wigflex Clever clogs
The weird, wonky world of Wigflex might have surfaced most candidly so far at Nottingham’s Stealth and, most recently, The Lacehouse, but focus is shifting to the label with releases from the likes of Lone, Hizatron and this, the imprint’s first-ever LP from Morris Cowan. Following a remix for Traum Schallplatten sub-label Zaubernuss, ‘Six Degrees’ is not a reference to the number of uni qualifications owned by this Manc-based lad (instead, the six degrees of separation theory is his muse). Though, judging by his chops, it may as well be. Opting for complexity over functionality, it’s a racy, slightly discordant trip into a series of disorientating worlds cascading with rolling beats, crystalline chimes and retro-future lasers. At times it’s a jet-pack flight to Planet Krypton, others it’s the garbled insides of an Atari arcade game made real. Either way, we’re always a long, long way from home. Lisa Loveday
7.0
quIckIES
Footprintz Escape Yourself Visionquest 7.0
Fancy footwork
Arriving with ‘Utopia’ on Visionquest in 2011, this Montreal duo have continued to do what they do best: emulate shoegazing ‘80s pop artists like Echo & The Bunnymen with added techno. It’s more of the same on debut LP ‘Escape Yourself’. Stylishly fey and consciously cute, while knowing what it wants to be, it lacks production depth. Lisa Loveday
Garnica Fool Again Galaktika Records 7.5
Ain’t no fool
Garnica is a well- travelled drummer (he plays for dubby Desolat dudes Pulshar) turned house producer. His debut, though not all firing, certainly offers plenty of auspicious moments including the lingering piano notes and spare deep house trudge of ‘I Don’t Care About Winning’ and textured swing of ‘DB.’ Certainly one to watch. Kristan Caryl
Martin Brodin Bla Bla Bla MB Disco 9.0
Real deal disco
Having previously mined a deep house vein, Martin Brodin turned to disco in 2010 and now self-releases his debut full-length. And it’s disco to the very core, with plenty of frazzled analogue lines, real instruments and brightly coloured synths chugging and pumping away à la the excellence of Todd Terje. Kristan Caryl
Oliver Deutschmann Out Of The Dark Vidab 8.0
Light works 8.0
Vondelpark Seabed R&S Tears on their pillow
Apparently London-based trio Vondelpark have aimed to make their debut album ‘the ultimate bedroom listen’ — which Barry White might have had something to say about, were it not that ‘Seabed’ brings to mind someone reading you poetry in the boudoir rather than dry-humping your leg. With a similar crepuscular sound to The xx, Lewis Rainsbury’s voice might verge on the anaemic, yet ‘Seabed’ is actually far more full-blooded than it sounds on first listen. There are incorporeal ballads like ‘Closer’ aplenty, but ‘Blue Again’ has a fairly frisky garage two-step beat, ‘California Analog Dream’ adds a tinge of bluesy Americana, and the title track fades into a liquid guitar solo with whispers of Pink Floyd. Naming a track ‘Dracula’ might knowingly acknowledge their slightly Gothic side, but it also sums Vondelpark up; sophisticated and seductive, they’ll have their wicked way with you in the end. Paul Clarke
10
Fela Kuti Best Of The Black President Vol.2 Kalakuta Sunrise Fela for president!
There aren’t many artists who can justify two volumes of a ‘Best Of’. But Fela Kuti is one — the Nigerian firebrand whose dissidence and opposition towards the corrupt government of his country in the 1970s resulted in his being elevated to hero status, but also invoked the fierce ire of the military, who severely beat him and fatally injured his mother. Fela lived the life propounded by his music, and the raw, direct, soul fire of his tunes is all passion. It’s also dance music in the truest sense: funk from an African perspective — Afrobeat — where the tunes are rarely less than 10 minutes long, and the basslines, funky guitar licks and horns roll and undulate endlessly on. ‘Expensive Shit’ is an elephantine funk meltdown of legendary proportions: no wonder it was covered by Masters At Work. And there’s 11 other reasons why you need this in your life included here, too. Ben Murphy
092
djmag.com
Unafraid to stray from purist realms, Berlin’s Oliver Deutschmann subtly infuses elements of UK funky (‘Junglo’), broken lunar house (‘New World Order’) and wiry nu-garage frequencies (‘Sadness Descends’) into more pedestrian deep house and techno on his debut ‘Out Of The Dark’ . Most absorbing, though, is its spiralling, cerebral pace throughout. Adam Saville
Around 7 Back To Basics Robsoul Jazz 7.0
Around 7 out of 10
The debut set from Around 7 — aka Parisian DJ/producer Sebastien Guertau — is also the debut release for veteran French producer Phil Weeks’ brand-new Robsoul Jazz label. Influences like Premier and J Dilla are instantly apparent, but since when is that considered a disadvantage? Smoky, jazzual lounge action par excellence. Ben Arnold
Sid Le Rock Busted With A Bag Of Bliss My Favorite Robot 7.0
Tortured electronica
Sid Le Rock’s fourth album is a largely synth- led affair, which lends the whole thing a fairly taut, metallic charm, with nimble basslines and well-programmed steppy melodies. Though occasionally sounding too perfect, tracks like ‘Sad Robot’ get nicely twisted whilst ‘Temptress’ gurgles and boils enticingly throughout. Kristan Caryl
repeAtTHE LPS WE CAN’T LEAVE ALONE...
Jay Shepheard Home & Garden Retrofit 8.5
The Reftrofit boss’ debut LP must be (Shep)heard.
Mano Le Tough Changing Days Permanent Vacation 9.0
Tough by name but not by nature, this Mano has a warm house heart.
Benjamin Damage Heliosphere 50 Weapons 9.0
Solo album from Berlin-based bassman is a weapon of mass destruction.
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