Album Review: Coastal Grooves - Blood Orange

Dev Hynes continues to blow my mind. As part of Test Icicles he helped play a (severely underrated) role in the birth of nu rave and proved that kids that dance can still rock hard. As Lightspeed Champion he made folk cool years before Laura Marling and Noah and the Whale (and let's not forget more interesting, as Falling Off The Lavender Bridge is still way more interesting that the Fleet Foxes). And here he is again, taking the long road home.

Hynes seems destined to make things difficult for himself - each time slotting into a slightly more oblique genre and changing his name like selling records is the last thing he wants. It's both a shame and a miracle, for he is exactly what us musos pine for: a well kept secret.

Blood Orange is, unsurprisingly, a rather different project to either of Hynes' previous incarnations. And, frustratingly for me as reviewer, it's rather difficult to describe. There are elements of post-punk, a retained country influence, an electronic edge and what feels like an oriental influence. It is also Dev Hynes' most obscure project to date. But it also might be his most interesting.

Whilst it feels instantly unrecognisable from Lightspeed Champion's honest Americana there are some similarities - 'S'Cooled', for example, may have a shuffling electronic beat a mile away from anything Hynes has used before but it still boasts the delicate guitar picking of ...Lavender Bridge.

Coastal Grooves feels more consciously produced than anything Hynes has released before but ironically it also feels more honest and exposed. The melodies feel like they bounced out of his head and the lyrics drooled out of his sleeping mouth agape even more so than before. That makes it sounds throwaway but that isn't the intention - this just feels like artist having an idea and acting on it without worrying about the listener at all. Which is refreshing.

And there are still memorable tunes - 'The Complete Knock', with it's disco influenced bridge complete with snappy guitars and a electro-inspired bridge, for example. Or 'I'm Sorry We Lied', a rapid fire blues record - insistent drums and picked out melodies like a foreign delicacy.

More than anything Coastal Grooves proves Hynes continues to care about his art and that he doesn't care if you care. But trust me, you should.

BP x

Coastal Grooves is released on Domino on Monday, available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affilaite links].

Album Review: Heidi presents The Jackathon - Heidi

The Jackathon makes a bit of a poor first impression. Starting with an intro in the form of Derrick Carter telling us Heidi is bringing us something "you ain't never heard before” she then drops into Soul Clap's 'Incoming Bitch (Get Low)'. A problem for me on two counts - the intro smacks of self-indulgence from a DJ who doesn't have the reputation to permit it and 'Incoming Bitch' is a pretty terrible track from a usually dependable outfit - it's tasteless, two-dimensional and the combination of the vocal and high pitched squeals is frankly irritating.

It took me a while to get past this but I'm pretty glad I did - much of what follows is great. 'What The Funk' by Solomon is tasteful, minimal and, yes, subtly jacking house music in all the right ways. It feels old and new at the same time. DJ T. proves he still has something to offer on the drum-heavy dark vibes of 'High'. Featuring vocals from Nick Mauer, it gradually builds into a sweatbox of a track, a tribute to being lost inside the drugs and the music.

Juan Maclean seems to be on some sort of mission - following on from his excellent turn on DJ Kicks where he turned in a fantastic straight up house mix he helps Heidi do the same here with the inclusion of 'Love In Tatters'. It may not be rocket science but it's done very well - straight up head music, perfect for lovers of house.

Actor One delivers a heavy, dubby number on 'March Violets' that keeps things minimal and simple, shining all the brighter for it. The mix closes with Steve Bug's 'Jack is Back' followed by an outro by Derrick. Sadly this feels slightly anti-climatic - Bug's track is fine enough but it doesn't feel like an 'end' and the outro is not much better than the intro. The result feels like the warm-up DJ handing over to a headliner rather than the end of a night peak.

So a duff start and, to be honest, a few too many mentions of the word (/ name) Jack (yes, we get it, it's about jacking) but other than than Heidi hits her target here. The Jackathon is mostly pitched just right - it's a mix album for lovers of stripped back, simple house music that's perfect for a sunny day or a pre-night out warm-up.

BP x

Heidi presents The Jackathon is out now on Get Physical, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD and MP3 [affiliate links].

Album Review: We Love... Portraits 01 - Mat Playford

We Love... has been the tale of Ibiza legend since its inception back in 1999 when it took over the infamous Sunday all day and all night slot at Space. A club night that originally started on a Sunday morning and ran for a full 22 hours, whilst revellers can bask in the outside terrace area: what's not to like?

Except of course times change - Space first received a canopy (blocking out those glorious hands-in-the-air as planes swoosh over moments) and then a full-on roof. The hours have now been reduced to 14 hours, with the action kicking off at 4pm on Sundays. I went back to Ibiza last year for my second time, the first time in seven years. I wasn't there on a clubbing excursion but even so - things have noticeably changed. The warmth of the white isle runs through my veins - it's difficult to resist the lure of gorgeous beaches, sunshine and house music - but things change.

At least they have changed for most of us. Because if you listen to Mat Playford's 'artist profile' you just might find yourself falling down the rabbit hole. This being number '01' it clearly represents the first in a series so I can't conclude that they will all follow the same format but what we have here is basically two albums. The first is an artist effort, with Mat Playford (or his Weirdo Police alter ego) providing original material, whilst the second set is a conventional mix album.

If this sounds like a bad idea, that is because it is. Albums by DJs can be pretty terrible at the best of times, sticking one at the beginning of a mix CD screams 'phoned in'. As such I'm pleasantly stunned to find that Playford's own material here is mostly good and at times excellent. It is truly soaked in Balearic vibes but it still takes in a variety of sounds - opening track 'Evidence' is cosmic and chilled, like Jean Michel Jarrett taking over Café Del Mar. It's easy to bite your thumb at a bit of chill these days but this is surprisingly good and when it is sunny it sounds undeniably good.

The DJ set element kicks in with one of Playford's own compositions, smoothing what could otherwise have been a slightly bumpy transition. Things start fairly laid back and cosmic however, with Ford Inc.'s 'Delirium' little more than some gentle funky keys and Salt City Orchestra's 'Downtime' adding a bit of bass but still playing gently.

Mat Playford's mix of Luca C's Ali Love featuring 'Different Morals' is the first track to raise the pulse a little, but it keeps things classy - funky but minimal, Love's vocal doesn't overpower the mix and the real star here is the reverb, coating the song in deep, lazy sunshine. The dark acid house of Joe Morris' 'Velocity House' is another highlight, vintage house stabs pounding out a melody that emerges from the darkness like the sun cutting through grey.

The set finishes with the epic 'Face The Music' by Tim Deluxe, which combines loose, live sounding percussion with a euphoric techno-inspired synth line. It's all hands-in-the-air until the break drops all but the beat and throws in a piano and some classy brass. Suddenly you really are on the (proper) terrace at Space, listening to a fusion of jazz, house and techno.

It's a fantastic end to the set and the album. Portraits 01 does a great job of recapturing the spirit of 'We Love...' and does a good enough job at demonstrating Playford's DJing and production skill. Now if only I had another trip to Ibiza on the cards...

BP x

Portraits 01 is out now on We Love Recordings, the full set is available from Amazon on CD or MP3 [affiliate links].

Album Review: W - Planningtorock

It's been a while since I've heard an album this good. Planningtorock, or Janine Rostron to her parents, seems to have become something of a sensation over the past few months with her sophomore album creating a bit of a storm. Rostron is the the kind of artist I overhear in a record store and then go to check out only to find I've already downloaded three songs from a selection of blogs. Which isn't to say I'm cool - just that she must have had particularly good write-ups for me to download something without hearing of her first.

Well it turns out that Planningtorock more than deserves those write-ups. W is as a complete an album as you could hope for, drawing the listener in gently and then refusing the let go. The opening tracks come are seductive, at first ballsy and brash ('Doorway', with a full-on, strutting bass line) before becoming isolated and nervy (’The One'). Over the course of the album Rostron gradually winds the screws and it becomes clear just how much she has to offer.

The thing is: W is what people try and pretend good pop music is. Take everything Beyoncé ever released and it wouldn't touch this, simply because Planningtorock actually has the ideas and passion that a multi-million-dollar marketing budget promise but can't deliver. Check 'Manifesto' - if Beyoncé had released it people would be falling at their feet. Built on slices of samba rhythm and boasting a melt-in-the-mouth break in the middle, it challenges and rewards in ways that a Major Lazer sampling hit single only has wet dreams about.

'I'm Yr Man' is a woman being more Mick Jagger than Mick himself, the persistent drum beat hammering into you skull like a nagging naughty thought you just can't put away. Is Janine dreaming of what she wants or what she wishes she was. Or, more likely, just exemplifying the contradictory needy arrogance at the heart of the male ego? Probably all three.

And if 'I'm Yr Man' is a modern twist on cock rock then 'Living It Out' is disco re-imagined - a thunderous statement of intent. As Planningtorock sings about "Living it up, living it down, living it in, living it out" she sounds unstoppable. "My head's on fire", she wails: that familiar feeling of the pursuit of hedonism at the expense of rationality.

W is an album of nooks and crannies, ideas and ideals, promises and revelations. Constantly leaving you guessing what is next, it rewards in a way I haven't experienced all year.

BP x

W is out now on DFA, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].

Album Review: Within and Without - Washed Out

In hindsight it is obvious that Ernest Greene's debut EP as Washed Out, Life of Leisure, was an important release. For me it marked the beginning of the crossover of chill wave - one of the early releases to encapsulate a new emerging sound. For Washed Out at least, full blown album Within and Without is probably even more important. This year we have already seen Toro y Moi's sound buckle and change under the pressure of increased ears, follow up Underneath the Pine responding to the challenge of staying fresh within a new genre by effectively abandoning it. The world is moving on, what will Washed Out do to avoid becoming washed up?

First things first: Washed Out isn't abandoning anything. Within and Without is faithful to the sound popularised on the first album. A progression of sorts maybe, but whereas Toro y Moi seemingly threw away everything, the kitchen sink and the plumbing, this feels very similar to the music of Life of Leisure.

Opening with single 'Eyes Be Closed' makes sense - it feels like a bridge to this album, fresh and sounding like the sea and sunshine. Where Within and Without pushes things though is towards larger, more memorable melodies and a greater emotional diversity. 'Eyes Be Closed' and 'Amor Fati' are examples of the larger tunes. The latter almost feels like one big chorus of layered vocals and big keys and for the first time it feels like Greene has made music that will stick in the mind and keep the listener coming back.

There also feels like there is more of an arc to the album - the first half all starry-eyed and overwhelmed before things begin to cool down at midway point 'Far Away', which soundtracks that moment when the feeling wears off and reality sets in. The comedown really peaks on the title track - the sunshine and good vibes seemingly run out with the holiday money, the beat plods on home knowing that the best has probably already passed.

Let us hope for Washed Out at least it hasn't. Within and Without is a welcome release and it feels more sophisticated than anything on Life of Leisure, but the cards are still being kept close to the chest. Whilst Toro y Moi throws too much away, perhaps Greene hasn't thrown away enough: I can't help but long to hear Washed Out take a few more risks.

BP x

Within and Without is out now on Weird World, available from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].