What happens when you take big-room trancey club tracks, slow down the bpm, and drop in Enigma-like vocals? You get something that sounds like it belongs more on adult contemporary radio than in an elegant cocktail lounge. It‘s clear that Pole Folder‘s Benoit Franquet was shooting for a chill, ethereal album with a positive vibe, and some of Zero Gold‘s sound design and trance washes are sweepingly beautiful; unfortunately, most of its beatwork sounds thuddingly monotonous. Franquet‘s lack of interest in playing with rhythm results in washed-out club ditties rather than stirring downtempo creations.
Various Artists Dave Clarke: World Service 2
Opening a mix with a female chanting “I want to fuck you” might not be the most original idea in 2005. Then again, there‘s not much that the extremely versatile U.K. super-DJ/producer Dave Clarke hasn‘t done over his nearly 20-year DJ career. Although his disc, labeled “electro,” doesn‘t actually offer electro until one-third of the way in, Clarke delivers a satisfying, big-room club experience throughout both of these high-energy sets. Old-school Clarke fans will appreciate the much stronger techno CD, with 4/4 faves like Joey Beltram and Heiko Laux whipping up Clarke‘s usual blistering tempo on the dancefloor.
Music A.M. My City Glittered Like A Breaking Wave
The Euro trio known as Music A.M. has undertaken a lovely mission: to prove that laptop electronica can be just as warm and wistful as any indie rock. Their five-track mini-album is thoughtfully crafted, crammed full of unexpected melodies and barely audible sounds in every musical corner. The electronic rubbing noise throughout “Don‘t Keep Me Waiting So Long” might chafe slightly, but the romantic pull of “Supercharger, I Adore You” and Luke Sutherland‘s throaty crooning will make you long to see the film that these cinematic tunes would be so choice with.
Colonel Red Blue Eyed Blak
Future jazz fans, you know the voice-that smokey, whiskey-soaked countertenor and falsetto on Mustang‘s “Help Me,” John Beltran‘s “True Colors,” and Delgui‘s “It‘s Gonna Be Alright.” If you‘re not familiar, here‘s a smooth, super-soulful introduction to Colonel Red (Nick Romillie). A singer who‘s been dropping his curving, jazz-crafty croon for well over a dozen years, Red‘s wealth of experience comes to the fore as he restrains his scat over the broken Afrobeat of “U Gimmmi That Feeling” and paces his delivery like a pro on the title track, building plenty tension with Rasiyah (Restless Soul). But Blue Eyed Blak is about more than Red‘s vocal talents-Red did most of the playing, production, and arrangement on his own and his elegant blend of broken beats and loungey R&B makes for a beautiful, if occasionally tepid, backdrop for his singular voice.
Kirk DeGiorgio presents As One Elegant Systems
Kirk Degiorgio sounds like a happy man. Buoyantly chugging techno on “Rumours,” blissfully floating ambiance on “Luca‘s Smile” (named for his baby boy), and even song titles like “This Precious Life” and “Magical Thinking” point to a man who is at peace. Thankfully, this veteran jazz-techno fusionist still tortures his analog synths enough to provoke some stunning sounds: the sticky bass of “Response Ability” cries out for a massive sound system turned to 11, and the intricately woven pads and hissing clicks of the title track astound like the view through a microscope. It seems criminal to ask for just a dash more (a bit of grit, a moment of menace), but what are critics if not criminals?
Various Artists Rub ‘n‘ Tug Presents Campfire
Note to self: in the search for art, never forget the craft. This compilation from the Rub ‘N‘ Tug team (DJs Thomas and Eric Duncan) has plenty of solid, unusual, downright freaky tracks, but the mix itself is painfully annoying. While the last thing the world needs is yet another seamlessly mixed CD, slamming “On The House‘s Pleasure Control” recklessly into Double Fantasy‘s “Heartbreaker” and then layering feedback over the track before randomly cutting the volume is just irritating. Songs like Daniel Wang‘s rollicking disco romp “Sylver Belt” and the classic acid of Adonis and Charles B‘s chugging “Lack of Love” simply deserve better.
DJ T. Boogie Playground
Retro ain‘t a gimmick when done by Get Physical guy DJ T.-it‘s glorious, giddy fun. Building on the electro he loved as a kid and the acid house that fueled his DJ career, T. and production partners Booka Shade have whipped up a frothy, era-ignoring album of dance tracks. From the clicking breakbeat snippets and lurching, Unique 3-style synths vs. early Nightmares on Wax vocals of “Rave d‘Amour” to the Italo disco-indebted cowbells and handclaps of “Rimini Rimini Rimini,” DJ T. plunders the past for grooves that just want to have fun, even if they might be forgotten (or sampled) next year. It all reaches a peak on “Rising,” which begins as a simple tech-house groove with an insinuating vocal sample before gradually layering liquid keyboard lines and urgent, Chicago-jacking percussion into a shimmering dancefloor juggernaut. This is simple, devastating dance music, and damn good fun.
Ge-Ology Ge-Ology Plays Ge-Ology
A producer of soulful yet coldly chilling beats in the vein of Pete Rock and Jay Dee, Geology‘s name should pull some serious weight but, despite his history producing 2Pac‘s first recordings and aiding Black Star‘s first album, he remains relatively obscure. With his first feature LP for the instrumentally-minded Female Fun, the artist so seamlessly mixes instrumentals from his back catalog that it sounds like one long track. While he‘s one of a few contemporary hip-hop producers whose beats all sound good enough to listen to on their own, it‘s the handful of vocal tracks included here-namely the Consequence-laced party rocker “Fasho” and a remix of Pete Rock and Grand Agent‘s “This is What They Meant”-that give the LP the needed push to make it interesting.
Various Artists The Rough Guide To Dub
You need a Rough Guide to help you get through the Alps on $100, but do you need one to help you pick out dub records? Apparently so, as the travel guide continues its foray into music compilations with this sampler. Props go to compilation selector Steve Barrow for starting things off with Errol Thompson and Randy Chin‘s All Stars, a brilliant, somewhat unique commentary on music production that incorporates stage tech chatter into a take on Lloyd Parkes‘ “Ordinary Man.” Overall, this compilation is a Tubby-dominated mixture that also features “Satta Dread Dub,” an early Aggrovators dub by “Prince” Phillip Smart of HC&F Studio fame, a few Channel One mixes, and a pair of tunes from Prince Jammy.
Solid Gold Playaz My Life… Pt. 01
Our ears are so unaccustomed to hearing real funk in electronic music that we sometimes miss authenticity. Setting off a basement jam alert, Kenny Gino and Big Mike shift our attention to a sexier side of house music with this release-a fresher and rawer realization than the normal fluff one hears. Not to be dismissed as pop, these tracks are made for the dancefloor.
