Robin 12Tree and Jason Laidback open Finger Lickin’s ’04 season by following up the thumpingly funky “Slippedy Slide” with another stabbing bit of breaks hoo-doo. The title track’s understated electro accents, sublimated acid melodies and hip-hop vocal samples accentuate its squirming bassline and stomp-along beat. Meanwhile the flipside’s “That’s It” hands over your recommended daily allowance of sub-bass, synth stabs and orgasmic breakdowns. Bravo.
Funckarma Demsongzbywe
Dutch bros Don and Roel Funcken, known for their electronic hip-hop and reggae-inspired releases under numerous aliases, hand over a couple of edgy, almost desolate rhythmic remixes of various artists’ tunes. On the main side, they give electro-acoustic band Ontayso’s Score of an “Imaginary Iceland” a respectfully crisp slo-beat treatment before taking C»line’s “Here and Now” to a murmuring, granular dub cavern. On the flip, the boys digitally stretch out and bunch up Detroit knob-twiddler Kero’s “Bent” inna Warp style, and give fellow Dutchboy Slemper no quarter by putting his “Soccermummy” in some cloudy radiowave-funk ether. Good goodness on this.
Sthlmsoundmachine The Hoffman Experience EP
Sina Solouk and Jacob Heinrich reach back to a late-’80s vibe to drum up these bits of pounding machine thump. “Dirty Little Thing” offers up edgy acid nostalgia with its charging chords and ominous melody line, while the flip’s “12 Inches of My Mind” goes for some brighter, yet still understated and almost dubby, medium-hard tech.
Roni Size Bumbakita
So many times, so many of us have given up on this cat, and so many times he’s come back with some sick shit. Case in point: “Bumbakita” lands directly on ya with a clean, almost tubular bassline and understated beat supporting an urgent wah-guitar-sounding melody and a lovely female rare-groove vocal sample. It’s similarly no-nonsense on the flip’s slightly slower “Fassy Ole,” with basslines loudly burbling and buzzing away. Your man’s on point with this ish.
Mauracher Zombielove
Austria’s Fabrique releases the second single from Hubert Mauracher’s “29 Degrees” album. “Zombielove” features deliciously raspy vocals from Aminata, building up the instrumentals with percussion galore. Ninja Tune’s Bonobo gets his remix going with jazzed-up midtempo drums, live bass and greater emphasis on the flute. “Kava,” meanwhile, goes for stripped-down dubstep with slightly heavier drums that move and groove. “Shine” is a slow-burner with an atmospheric feel and shuffling beats. Yes yes, sing that zombie song!
Nostalgia 77 Rain Walk
On the eve of Nostalgia 77’s debut long-player for Tru Thoughts comes “Rain Walk,” a spooky lil’ downbeat head-nodder with hip-hop beats, generous guitars and nice key riffs. On the flip side, “Thing” gets busy on the funk with heavy, heavy beats and a mad groove that could make a corpse move, complete with horns courtesy of labelmate Quantic. Funky? You better believe it.
Patchworks Immo
Bruno Hovart drops his second EP for the Paris-based Q-Tape label. “Immo” falls between mellow house and Afrobeat with nice grooves and soothing vocals. After the mellow interlude “Million Toes” comes the funky disco track “Corn Bread” with hand claps, Fender grooves and melodic keys. Crusho remixes the tune, lowering the tempo, fattening the kick drums and adding some electro bass. Sylvester Over flips things into house mode with straight 4/4 beats over warm atmospheres and grimy undercurrents. Tasty.
David Borsu Monster
The man who remixed Perry Hemus’s recent “Rhodesmode” tune comes through with a four-track EP for London’s Counterpoint label. “Way of Life” starts off warm and breezy, while “Nocturne” is a chilled delight for the heads. The tempo moves in a funky electro direction with “Hustle The Funk,” and the title track ends it all with a broken jazz style and delicate vocals. Borsu is set to drop two long-players this year, so look out.
Just Jack The Outer Marker
Just Jack will earn inevitable comparisons to The Streets because he’s British, an erstwhile rapper and a man with a fondness for confessional, at times maudlin, lyrics. Regardless, The Outer Marker is far more like an album Jamiroquai would make. The opening track, “Let’s Get Really Honest,” is sort of ’70s pop funk meets DJ Shadow (minus much actual funkiness), while the cocky strut of “Contradictions” recalls the heyday of acid jazz. All the while, Jack moves between a honky R&B croon and cockney spoken word, both of which are plucky, but not very heartfelt. Some of the beautifully (over)produced beats on this album are enjoyable, but it never lives up to the sum of its influences, from Stereo MCs to Massive Attack to Mr. Skinner himself. The Outer Marker is not a convincing record-it just seems that Jack…doesn’t really know jack.
Russ Gabriel’s Audio Spectrum The Other Side Project Vol. 1
The new album from Carl Craig compatriot and Ferox label owner Russ Gabriel certainly does quite a bit to advance broken beat forward, but it would be a shame to slot it into one genre. While the clever boom-kah, boom-kah of “Flip Down to Break” and the crisp machine funk of the Herbie Hancock-esque “Tisch-Tennis” wouldn’t be out of place in Dego or Seiji’s DJ box, Gabriel also tinkers with cerebral Detroit electro (“Ode to Ade,” “Game, Set, Match”), Plaid-like atmospheric bliss (“Brela,” “God is the Moment”), and fusions of all of the above (“Masonette”). Cleverly put together and never short of emotion-whether elated or introspective-Gabriel’s achieved another coup for future breaks.
