Justin Martin - Ghettos & Gardens (Album Review)

If you’ve been following Justin Martin for the past 12 months you’ll have noticed the fine form he’s currently in. Last year’s ‘Lezgo‘ with Ardalan appeared in plenty of best of ’2011′ lists whilst last week’s ‘Don’t Go’/'Rough Stuff‘ EP is already getting a lot of hype. All three of these tracks appear on his debut album Ghettos & Gardens.



Ghettos & Gardens is Justin Martin’s marriage of melody and bass. Rather than being a ‘DJ album’ of club tracks connected by unnecessary filler he has created an album’s worth of songs that stand up equally to home listening and club play. ‘Don’t Go’ takes a beautiful harp sample and underpins it with a tough bass line making it a joy to listen to but also extremely powerful. ‘Hood Rich’ intersperses emotive strings with low end wobble. ‘Kemistry’ slows down Goldie’s original, giving the lush vocal and synths space to breathe before breaking into a disgustingly aggressive throb. Throughout Ghettos & Gardens Justin Martin blends delightful musicality with speaker shaking bass all tied together with slickly produced beats. It’s a surprisingly playful piece of work, something that a lot of producers fail to capture. It’s hard to listen to this album without a wry smile slowly and subconsciously spreading across your face. That’s not to say it’s silly, childish or even humorous but you can’t imagine Justin Martin taking himself too seriously and that reflects well here. It’s as much an album of sunshine and friends as it is of tough beats and bass in dingy clubs. Every so often it’s nice to be reminded that electronic music can be a heck of a lot of fun.

Justin Martin’s debut makes for an extremely satisfying listen, it fulfils the needs of both the ears and the body, the brain and the feet. Ghettos & Gardens exerts a confidence, safe in the knowledge it’s not trying to be something it isn’t. It’s not pushing too many envelopes or needlessly re-inventing the wheel again, it’s just good music done well.

Originally posted at Blah Blah Blah

Lone - Galaxy Garden (Album Review)

The aptly titled Galaxy Garden marks a departure from Lone’s previous two albums of blissed out, hip-hop infused electronica. His third LP retains the atmospheric touches of Lemurian and Ecstasy & Friends. It also shares their soundtrack qualities but this time it’s the sonic backdrop to a psychedelic, schizophrenic journey through the cosmos.



Dreamy synths float all over this album giving it a lush but eery feel. There’s beatless moments where pan pipes, whale noises, running water and acoustic guitar could take it into chill out territory but the frantic tribal percussion sees off any such thoughts. The songs shape shift rapidly and Lone glides through genres so smoothly it’s barely worth mentioning them. It’s the juxtaposition of sounds and ideas that makes this such an interesting listen. There’s a clear 90s house/breakbeat influence but it’s one of many. An old-skool rave track is topped with an 80s style noodling synth solo. Smooth melodies slide over low rumbling bass and insistent broken beats. It’s like NASA broadcast a pirate radio station out of the milky way 15 years ago and it’s somehow returned to earth covered in space dust.

Galaxy Garden is a giant leap for Lone taking his songs light years away from the earthy productions of previous albums. It’s a tricky listen to get your ears around at first but your effort will be rewarded with an LP that doesn’t tire easily.

Originally posted at Blah Blah Blah

Jimmy Edgar - Magenta (Album Review)

Jimmy Edgar returns with his third album, Majenta. With previous albums released on Warp and !K7, expectations of a fairly leftfield electronica aren’t unfair. He’s already earned himself a reputation as a purveyor of sleazy electro-funk and with track names such as ‘Sex Drive’, ‘Touch Yr Bodytime’ and ‘In Deep’ this looks set to continue.



On first listen it’s easy to identify the bouncy electro basslines and 80s synth stabs that characterise his work. Along with the sexual spoken word narratives and hints of RnB flavour. There’s a tougher feel to the tracks on Majenta, though, a driving yet subtle techno influence, most likely gained from his recent time spent in Berlin. It’s easy to see why this slightly darker direction has appealed to label head man, Scuba. It lends the filthy lyrics a creepy edge, contrasting the shine of false sexual bravado from his Prince-meets-Zdar moments. Certain tracks have got Hotflush written all over them, skittering percussion, deep basslines, stabs and, most importantly, sweetly sung vocal cuts pitched down. It’s a delightful combination of disparate styles.

Majenta is a thoroughly well thought out album. Edgar plays with new genres and directions without sacrificing his own style or attaching himself too firmly to the zeitgeist. It would be a great pop album if it wasn’t for the strictly NSFW vocals.

Originally posted at Blah Blah Blah

Jamie Jones - Fabric 59 (Album Review)

With all this new, interesting bass music flying around it’s nice to see that Fabric still have time to push the staple of electronic music: House. Jamie Jones‘ contribution to the Fabric series is just that.



The first half of the mix is a smooth journey through the sparser, less sensational side of the genre. Chugging bass synths, kicks and cymbals link up for hypnotic grooves, punctuated with vocal loops and sporadic stabs. It’s a mesmerising listen, the subtlety of the tracks and the mixing manages to convey a greater sense of melody, space and movement than the simplistic nature of the components would suggest. The mix ebbs and flows thanks to Jones’ careful track selection with the tiniest change becoming a real feature. The addition of a new hat increases the pace, a synth’s modulation provides the progression and gently increased reverb ramps up the intensity. It’s all very restrained.

The second half of the mix is a releasing of inhibitions. Crazy P‘s ‘Open For Service’ brings things to a halt, adding some funk and building to Holy Ghost‘s remix of Panthers. Jones’ has succeeded in reigning everything in so tight that by the time ‘Goblin City’s guitar solo arrives it bursts into the mix like a blinding beam of sunlight through thick cloud. From here he rounds out the mix with some lighter tracks including ‘The Lows’ – one of his own productions peppered throughout in various guises. Still riding high on guitar-solo induced seratonin, the continual vocal and muted strings of soho808‘s ‘Get Up Disco’ saturates the senses, whilst final track ‘Fear Of Numbers’ further bolsters the melody with thick chords that gradually fade away.

Jamie Jones really impresses by providing a thoughtful mix that is also appealing to the dancefloor. Those ‘in the know’ will appreciate his inclusion of classics like Felix Da Housecat‘s ‘Hollywood Madame’, whilst newer fans of electronic music will relate to Metronomy‘s Remix of Sebastien Tellier and Jones’ own productions.

Tracklist
1. Hot Natured feat. Ali Love & Kenny Glasgow – Time Intro [Hot Creations]
2. Sebastien Tellier – La Ritournelle (Metronomy Mix) [Record Makers / Lucky Number]
3. James Teej – Don’t Appear (Redux) [My Favorite Robot]
4. Coat Of Arms – Is This Something (Jones Fly Edit) [Futureboogie]
5. White Lions – DePalma [My Favorite Robot]
6. Karen Pollack – You Can’t Touch Me (Murk Remix – Jones Fly Edit) [Slip N Slide]
7. Cajmere feat. Jamie Principle – God Sent (#10) [Cajual]
8. Felix Da Housecat – Madame Hollywood [Rude Photo]
9. Waifs & Strays – Body Shiver [Hot Creations]
10. jennygoesdirty – Amoureux Solitaires [Kill The DJ]
11. Hot Natured feat. Ali Love & Kenny Glasgow – Assimilation [Hot Creations]
12. Crazy P – Open For Service [2020Vision]
13. Panthers – Goblin City (Holy Ghost Mix) [Warner]
14. Oppenheimer Analysis – The Devil’s Dancers [Minimal Wave]
15. Jamie Jones – The Lows [Crosstown Rebels]
16. soho808 – Get Up Disco [Dikso]
17. Footprintz – Fear Of Numbers [Visionquest]


Originally posted at Blah Blah Blah

Toddla T - Watch Me Dance (Album Review)

Toddla T is having a run of bad luck around the release of his second album ‘Watch Me Dance’. First, an advance copy of the album was leaked by an irresponsible journalist who Ninja Tune quite rightly named and shamed. As a result, the album had to be rush-released digitally to try and mop up some online sales whilst the physical release was pushed forward. Then, all his CDs were lost in the fire in the PIAS warehouse meaning that the release had to be pushed back another week. Here’s hoping that the next few paragraphs will convince you to go out and support an unlucky artist, label and industry in these challenging times.



‘Watch Me Dance’ shows a heck of a lot of progression for Toddla from his first outing ‘Skanky Skanky’. The productions are denser and more complex, the instrumentation is hugely varied and features guitars and pianos as well as the whomping bass heavy synths of his debut. The humour has been toned down (although not altogether dispensed with) in favour of a more mature songwriting style. Title track ‘Watch Me Dance’ featuring Roots Manuva has a distinct tongue-in-cheek feel to it (especially if you watch the video) but is seriously radio friendly at the same time. Elsewhere Mr V and Serocee’s involvement have been dialed down to make way for more female vocalists including Roisin Murphy and Ms Dynamite. The women on this album make it shine, ‘Take It Back’s rave piano and drums work delightfully under Shola Ama‘s vocal to give it a 90′s feel. The, often brief, interspersed MC verses are far less overwhelming than on ‘Skanky Skanky’ and Mr V’s between song banter has totally gone.

There’s a real variety of genres on Toddla’s follow up. The aforementioned tracks incorporate rave and electro but there’s also R’n'B, Soul, Funk, Reggae and Dancehall all unified by large amounts of bass. Particularly surprising is the straight up soul/funk intro to ‘Do It Your Way’ which breaks into a jungle tear-out so abruptly yet competently that it might as well be a remix of a vintage track. Final song, ‘Fly’, is a totally genuine Reggae number with very little electronic production. Notably he’s avoided Dubstep altogether and at a point when the genre is reaching saturation point this has got to be a good idea. He’s opted instead for a collection of songs that, despite their disparity, come together for a very cohesive second album.

Tracklist
1. Watch Me Dance (with Roots Manuva)
2. Take It Back
3. Cruise Control
4. Cherry Picking
5. Streets So Warm
6. Badman Flu
7. Body Good
8. How Beautiful It Would Be
9. Lovely Girl
10. Do It Your Way
11. Fly


Originally posted on Blah Blah Blah

Four Tet - Fabriclive 59 (Mix Album Review)

Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet, has always pushed musical boundaries. Whether it be with his inimitable style of electronica - glitching up folk samples into haunting hip-hop melodies - or live laptop jamming with jazz drummers, he always manages to do something different and subvert expectations. With the release of his latest and most accessible album, There Is Love In You, he has found himself sitting alongside the likes of Joy Orbison and Pearson Sound on releases and line-ups alike. These pioneers are re-inventing bass music and Pearson Sound's recent Fabric Mix is a good example of where these new genres are headed. If you've come to terms with Four Tet's endless curve balling then you won't be as surprised to know that this mix doesn't pick up where Pearson Sound's left off.

Read the rest over at Blah Blah Blah.

SBTRKT - SBTRKT (Album Review)

Check out my review of SBTRKT's debut album over at Blah Blah Blah.

SBTRKT - Sanctuary (feat. Jessie Ware & Sampha) on Spotify.

Digitalism - I Love You Dude (Album Review)

It's been four years since Digitalism released their debut, Idealism. At that time they were one of a handful of pioneers developing the hybrid of indie and dance music and Idealism stands as an important milestone in the progression of what became known as 'nu-rave'. Since then the genre notoriously expanded, diluted and collapsed under the weight of weak immitators and heavy criticism from it's initial supporters. Four years on and everything has changed in the world around them, do Digitalism have what it takes to keep up?

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah.

Digitalism - Encore on Spotify

Munk - The Bird And The Beat (Album Review)

Munk is Mathias Modica the multi instrumentalist and co-founder of Gomma records. The Bird And The Beat is his third album and provides a deliciously summery dose of disco influenced dance music. Instead of mining disco for samples, however, he's created 14 tracks that put something back into the genre.

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah.

Munk - La Musica on Spotify.

Frankie & The Hearstrings - Hunger (Album Review)

Since it's surge in popularity and saturation circa 2008, indie has been in general decline and the standard guitar, bass and drums combo has fallen by the wayside. Three years later and there are a couple of bands reigniting that spark.

Read the rest of the review and buy the album at Ape

Frankie & The Heartstings - Hunger on Spotify.

Egyptrixx - Bible Eyes (Album Review)

2010 proved to be a good year for thoughtful electronica, with Four Tet, Caribou, Gold Panda and a few others littering a host of respected 'Best Of' lists. 2011's first contender comes in the form of Egyptrixx's debut.

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah

Egyptrixx - Chrysalis Records on Spotify.

Fujiya & Miyagi - Ventriloquizzing (Album Review)

I wrote this review for Ape ages ago but i've only just got around to linking it up.



Inspired by the ventriloquist's dummy as a metaphor for uninteresting and easily manipulated individuals, the foursome explore society's dullards in a rather more entertaining fashion. The majority of the eleven tracks are anchored by a super tight drum and bass combination creating such propulsion and groove that they would be all over the dance floor if it wasn't for David Best's dead pan delivery of delightfully drab lyrics...

Read the rest of the review and buy the album at Ape.

Fujiya & Miyagi - Ventriloquizzing on Spotify.

I love this video too:

Suuns - Zeroes QC (Album Review)

What to make of Suuns? Let's start with the name. It could be a typo for the glowing ball of gas that we spend our lives orbiting around. Not in the fuzzy warm way East Coast bands make us think of the sun, though. This Canadian four piece have a different idea of what the centre of our universe represents. It's not just our life support system but also a devastatingly powerful source of energy, danger and fear. More Danny Boyle's 'Sunshine' than 'Little Miss Sunshine'.

Read the rest of the review and order at Ape.

Suuns - Gaze on Spotify

Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner (Album Review)

'Lucky Shiner' is a patient album. It is the result of a patient life. Taking in influences from a two year period spent studying Japanese culture, language and history at the School of Oriental and Asian studies in Japan. It's loaded with family history, relationships and memories - inspired by everything from 'Marriage' to a field recording of Gold Panda helping his Grandma to push a wheelbarrow in the garden. It was even made in a patient environment, a two week house-sit over Christmas for his uncle and aunt in the idyllic English countryside. In relaxed sessions between walking their dog Daisy. It, therefore, requires a little patience in return and on repeat plays the listener can descend into its layers to reveal something truly worth the wait.

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah.

Gold Panda - Same Dream China on Spotify.

Chromeo - Business Casual (Album Review)

Business Casual is the new album from besuited time travelling lotharios, Chromeo. With their temporal dial still firmly stuck to the 70s and 80s, they reappear for the third time in the present day with ten tracks stolen from the eras that funk forged and fashion forgot.

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah.

Tinashe - Saved (Album Review)

If, in recent weeks, conversation has been dominated by bemoaning the early yet inevitable passing of Britain's summer. Make sure Tinashe's debut is the last ray of sun you catch before Autumn closes in. Now living in London but originally from Zimbabwe the 26 year old has crafted a truly uplifting collection of tracks.

Read the rest of the review and buy the album from Ape Music

Tinashe - Zambezi on Spotify.

Fabriclive Mix 53: Drop The Lime (Review)

Rising to fame during the demise of electro, as fidget house and dubstep emerged so did Drop The Lime. Part of label/party/blog/collective Trouble And Bass he quickly gained a reputation for championing all types of bass music, destroying dance floors worldwide and, more recently, reintroducing vocals to house. Here he takes a step back from the dance-floor and crafts a mix much less for the club, although you'll still need Fabric's bass-bins (or a hefty pair of headphones) to fully enjoy his selections.

Read the rest of the review over at Blah Blah Blah.

Mystery Jets - Serotonin (Album review)

The four lads (and their Dad) from Eel Pie Island are barely recognisable on Serotonin. Proving that 2008's Twenty One wasn't Mystery Jets finding their new sound but merely taking a step on their musical journey. Having already produced with James Ford and Erol Alkan, this time they've opted for Chris Thomas (The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Pulp, Sex Pistols) to man the controls.

Read more and buy the album at Ape

Mystery Jets - The Girl Is Gone on Spotify.

Sleigh Bells - Treats (Album review)

I've started writing weekly reviews for Ape's website. Each week i'll be posting a snippet of the review here and a link so that you can read the rest of the review and buy the album.



Sleigh Bells is comprised of Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss, one of the most unlikely pairings in music. He was formerly a guitarist for post-hardcore band Poison The Well and she sang in Rubyblue, a girl band for which details are scarce. The coming together of this duo was equally unlikely as he waited her (and her Mum) in a restaurant and happened to mention he was looking for a female vocalist. The rest is (very recent) history as they formed in 2008 and less than two years later have produced their debut album 'Treats'.

Read more and buy the album at Ape.

Sleigh Bells - Riot Rhythm on Spotify.

Four Tet - There Is Love In You (Album Review)

This has been far too long in the writing. Four Tet's latest album was my first purchase of the year (way back in January) and is still my favourite to date. There Is Love In You sees Kieran Hebden delivering the album that his previous works have hinted at. Tracks like 'Everything Is Alright' from Pause and 'She Moves She' from Rounds have highlighted how great a musician he is but are shining gems amongst the less accessible experimentation on each album. This LP really ties his sonic exploration with beautiful melodies and accessible listening across all nine tracks.

Album opener 'Angel Echoes' is just about as beautiful as any four minutes of your life are going to be. Its simple beat and chopped up female vocal smoothing out the album's title in varying arrangements beam down like broken rays of sunshine to be basked in. I would say that it makes my heart swell and my eyes brim if the second track wasn't called 'Love Cry'. It's nine minutes and thirteen seconds of skipping percussion and warbling whatever-it-is. This might sound like a lazy (or lack of) description but if you're familiar with Four Tet you'll understand where I'm coming from. His ability to take recorded noises and instruments then process them through his computer, loop, tinker, warp, reverse, stutter and screw them to the point of being only subconsciously familiar is instantly recognisable. 'Love Cry' is no different and the droning melody is either hot water heating the pipes in a creaky old house as the heating comes or a de-tuned synth. Of the two I'm inclined to believe the former as de-tuning a synth seems too easy and conventional for Hebden. Third song, 'Circling' is the sound track to landing on an alien planet lush with flora but loaded with uncertainty and probable danger. As exploration of this new landscape continues realisation dawns that the planet is not only safe but warm and welcoming too (you'll know what I mean if you've ever played Metroid Prime). The progression of this song is delightful, it starts with oddly off-beat, plucked strings that drift further and further out of time. They threaten to drag the track apart until a duplicate layer is introduced which counterpoints the original and provides the missing half of the melody. These moments thrive and diminish over and over, changing subtly each time so that by the end, the uneasiness of the opening minute has been replaced by pleasant familiarity. Using 'Pablo's Heart' as the tiniest of stepping stones, the listener is thrust headlong into 'Sing', a bouncing, glockenspiel-saturated dance track of the awkward shambling kind (that I'm so fond of). It also seems to use the vocal from Boris Dlugosch's 'Bangkok'.

I could go on like this for the remaining four songs but I think you're getting the point by now which is a) this is a brilliant album and b) i'm fully gay for Kieran Hebden. Do yourself a favour and buy the album, that way if this warm (well, bright) weather continues you'll have something dreamy to walk around to.

Four Tet - Angel Echoes on Spotify.

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