Album Review: DJ-Kicks - Digitalism

http://designcollector.net/digitalism-simply-dead/The DJ-Kicks albums have had some decent entries over the years, particularly lately, so it is somewhat of a surprise to see this new entry come from Digitalism, who are unable to check either the 'so hot right now' box or the the 'highly respected in their genre' box of the likes of Soulclap (upon release at least) and Apparat respectively.

Instead Digitalism seem to be on the verge of irrelevance. More than perhaps anyone else they came closest to mirroring Justice's stellar popularity back in the 2007 / 2008 Euro house distortion bubble (in both senses of the word distortion). And as they say, the harder they come... Justice's second album is one of the most derided sophomore efforts in recent memory and critically at least Digitalism's I Love You Dude faired even worse.

This DJ-Kicks offering at times suffers from the same noise-core fatigue but more often than not just misfires into slightly tired, boring territory. There are a slew of Digitalism tracks and remixes here and some of them are typically noisy - see 'A New Drug' and 'So Totally Good', for example. The trouble is that what made this sound appealing in the first place was its relative novelty and the way it combined it with allusions to pop music. 'Pogo' was a massive pop record wearing a punk leather jacket and cranked to 11. 'Digitalism In Cairo' could almost have been Daft Punk in their prime. None of that is here - nothing tempers the noise and as such nothing comes close to that initial buzz.

So Kölsch's 'Lorely' is hard and kitsch but devoid of any charm and Grauzone's 'Raum', remixed by Ata, sounds like the angular sounds of Zongamin about ten years too late. And what to say of Digitalism's remix of the Rapture's 'Sail Away', already a song that felt like Bono forcing a sherbet dip down your throat? Here you can witness it being turned into an overblown electro weepy ballad - it so badly wants to be a lighters in the air moment. Hell, it probably is if you are 17 and think Deadmau5 invented trance.

There are a few better moments. The squeaky bass and distorted shuffle of 83's 'Hey Today!' actually achieves what a lot of this album attempts and Alex Gopher's 'Brain Leech' has the feeling of walking away from a loved one at the end of a glorious day yet still feeling rejected... It achieves the pop-electro nexus that the Ed Banger and Kitsuné fraternity seem to have lost entirely.

Whilst this album may not be a total misfire it certainly isn't a convincing return to form and it represents a low point in the recent history of DJ-Kicks releases. But then again maybe this album isn't for fans of that series in the first place.

DJ Kicks by Digitalism is out tomorrow on !K7, available to order from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].

Album Review: Fabric 64 - Guy Gerber

Guy Gerber eschews expectations and takes Fabric 64 as an opportunity to make a compact, groove-based single artist album. He isn't the first to make his entry into the Fabric CD a single artists affair though - both Ricardo Villalobos and Omar S have produced Fabric albums that only consist of their own music. They are both, in fact, two of my favourite entries to the long-running series.

Gerber has declared Fabric 64 his 'break-up' album. Created in a short, two month period (as Fabric releases apparently have to be) shortly after the end of a relationship it is a snapshot of his emotional state during that period and it has a greater degree of focus than an album created over a longer period of time would be capable of. This is a generous album both emotionally and purely in terms of the music offered, for much of the 16 movements and 72-minutes contained could have been made into a 'proper' album, with all the associated press and attention that usually brings.

It also works well as a mix album though. This may not be a peak-of-the-night DJ set but Fabric 64 is no slouch either, taught electronic kicks propel the album onwards even when the music is introspective and forlorn, as on 'Shady Triangle'. Melancholic music can create a deep, emotional well to drown in but Gerber sidesteps this to create a soundtrack that trips and stumbles between sadness, resignation and apprehensive hope at different turns throughout its course.

The whole album locks together like a jigsaw to make a tight, continuous groove so whilst there are momentary highlights it also forms a cinematic whole. This just could be the progressive house answer to the Drive soundtrack and all that which the movie has touched - the music scrubbed and sanded down in an attempt to remove every touch of humanity, yet the emotion shines through as strong as ever.

It is there in the melodies that punch through the dark synths on 'A Blade Through My Piano' and again on the building opening track 'Store-House Consciousness'. And the vocals and wet synth of the Clarian North featuring 'Running Through The Night' betray nights spent with nowhere to go and no-one to see.

It is on the Deniz Kurtel collaboration that closes this album, 'Just Wanna See You Happy', that Gerber finds (and makes) his peace and yet it still feels like a conflicted moment - not marked out with the same tears that track much of the album but hardly at ease either. Fabric 69 doesn't just use the mix album to create a single artist album - Gerber has used it to make a concept album too (and a good one at that).

It is an album which says a lot about its maker. Put it on a pair of headphones and ride across the city, shutting out your surroundings and it just might say something about you too.

Fabric 64 is released on 28 June, available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD and MP3 [affiliate links].

Album Review: In Our Heads - Hot Chip

Image source: BBC.co.ukI've already commented before that Hot Chip's last album, 2010‘s One Life Stand, left me a little cold... It felt like a band slipping through the cracks, trapped between two sounds, and whilst the result was not bad per se it just came off a little unsatisfying. In retrospect this makes some sense - Hot Chip have now split from major EMI and In Our Heads represents their first album for independent Domino.

More than any other single variable the move from a major feels like a considerable contributing factor to what is undoubtedly a return to form. In Our Heads feels like a band freed up from their own (or the label's?) image of what they should be. These songs are almost all less obviously pop than anything Hot Chip have released before. Whilst there are plenty of hooks and the trademark catchy choruses remain there are less radio friendly trick shots and more grown up songs than ever before.

Opener 'Motion Sickness' sets the pace, it's a soaring eighties ballad wrapped in early house production and it manages to achieve this without even appearing to try too hard. It's a disconcerted tribute to our complex times and music's key role in guiding us through it. And it is also beautiful - Alexis Taylor seemingly overwhelmed by his own capacity to feel, particularly when it comes to music - "Remember when people thought the world was round / everything spins on my head / on my compact disk" he sings.

Emotionally In Our Heads seems most preoccupied with the friction that exists between the heart's desire to take risks and the head's self-preservation instincts. Just listen to 'Don't Deny Your Heart', with its over-eager choruses, for example. The flip side of this feeling is the mind's inability to rid itself of the subject of the heart once it has crawled up inside and lain roots, as felt through the syrupy ballad 'Look At Where We Are' and the raw 'These Chains' - that unwillingness to move on.

This conflict keeps the album moving and culminates in the standout track 'Flutes' (which can be heard here). It's a sombre epic tale of retribution - that moment when you realise that failed relationships or emotional mis-fires take two. It builds over seven-minutes into a climatic emotional house record that calls to mind equal parts Detroit techno and Manchester bands New Order and Electronic.

For all the awkward angst of 'Flutes' the other standout is the even longer 'Let Me Be Him'. It's a wonderfully warm-hearted eighties inspired power ballad reminiscent of The Thompson Twins, the optimistic inevitable emotional rebirth punctuated by a belted out ”oh hey ho” refrain. Just try to resist joining in.

By going with their hearts rather than their heads Hot Chip have made In Our Heads one of their most complete and emotionally significant albums to date.

In Our Heads is released on Domino tomorrow, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].

Stream In Our Heads on Spotify below (Spotify account required):

Album Review: mst - Acid Pauli

In some ways a sufficient review of Acid Pauli's new album would simply read: "Pauli is friends with Nicolas Jaar and hangs about in Germany"

But whilst that does a pretty good job of describing what mst sounds like it doesn't really do Pauli's efforts any justice. This is undoubtedly electronic music cut from the same cloth as Jaar's - throbbing electronic IDM that can't bear to be contained by the confines of the dance floor. The German influence is also felt in the clean lines and focus of mst.

But this is Pauli's own album. For one he resists the urge to vocalise his thoughts. The echoey atmospherics of his work with alternative rock band the Notwist also rear their head. Whilst elements of this record feel like German techno it is simultaneously a messy tangle of clicks and crackles and clattering noise. So it is business on the sides but messy on top.

Much like Jaar's work Pauli's music suggests he is a better listen when playing his own music for himself than when constrained to the requirements of a crowd and a dance floor. And that makes perfect sense when you consider that Pauli's claimed ambition for this album was to create a dance record that reflected the the experience back into everyday life.

These pieces conjure a thrilling listen that act as a canvas for your own emotions, an atmospheric medium. The guttural samba of 'A Clone Is Not A Clone' gently moves through urban hustle and bustle with a gentle seeping paranoia that you'll miss if you aren't looking for it and 'Equation of Time' is could be the internal soundtrack for waiting for the bus or blowing bubbles in the bath. 'Eulogy for Eunice' peels out of the dark corner of the room like the first spit-spots of a rain storm that builds to a thunderstorm and innevitable torrential downpour. It is nine of the most atmospheric minutes ever pressed to record.

mst should put Pauli on the map but it also proves Clown & Sunset and Jaar still have much to offer.

mst is released on Clown & Sunset on 18 June.

Album Reviews: Medicine Man - The Bamboos

The Bamboos latest album, their seventh studio release, takes off where the last one, 4 left off... If you have heard the Melbourne group's other material there aren't any massive surprises here - Medicine Man is another collection of seventies inspired funk songs.

Of course it coming from the Tru Thoughts stable the whole thing smacks of quality. A collection of seventies inspired funk songs this may be, but it's never anything less than fab. The laid back opener 'Where Does The Time Go, featuring Aloe Blacc, is a middle-aged record of disorientation and the first single. It's a fitting intro and it highlights The Bamboos' strength - sophisticated playing and an understated touch that means these songs come forward exactly when they need to and only just as much as is ever required.

There are grittier blues funk numbers like 'What I Know', with just enough spit and sawdust on the vocal to make the whole thing shine when Kylie Auldist's voice really breaks free. Daniel Merriweather features amongst the stuttering drums and deep bass of 'I Never', whilst 'I Got Burned' is packed with bluesy guitar melody, brass, strings and a damaged male falsetto from Tim Rogers.

A cover version of James Blake's 'The Wilhelm Scream' is something of a revelation, coming just three tracks in and proving to be not only a credit to the band but also Blake's songwriting. Free of the latter's clicks and rumbling bass it stands up, the strings and gentle guitar licks a fine substitute as the record builds to its conclusion.

It would be hard not to love the Bamboos. This is well played funk and soul that is just crying out for some rotation on your barbecue playlist this summer.

Medicine Man is released via Tru Thoughts on Monday, available for pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD, LP and MP3 [affiliate links].

Stream Medicine Man on Spotify below [account required]: