EP Review: Nudes - Nudes

Nudes is the self-titled debut EP from London duo Owen Wallace Lasch and Tom Giddins, and it represents an expansion of the vision demonstrated in their cover of Westbam's Oldschool, Baby that I posted shortly after they formed last year.

Lasch and Giddins got together to form Nudes after a lonely hearts inspired shout out on social media and since then the duo have apparently spent little time apart, Lasch's introversion complementing Giddins' more extroverted passionate sense.

Nudes retains some of the blissful electronic pop that their first work embodied, but if anything makes it feel more dreamy and spaced out, more thought through and fully crafted.

Opener 90's Depp is an ambient, cinematic soundscape that gently ushers in the EP before some delicate indie R&B style vocals pick their way amongst the cool electronics to form a hook that loops throughout much of the track. Avec is a little warmer, a loved up dedication, a plead to be with another. The vocal bounces seemingly against the track's elastic beats and solid, staid piano chords to create a gentle hug of a record.

The Heat is more abstract, a Balearic smattering of falsetto vocals echoing through the melody whilst percussion clatters against a simple bassline to create a glorious sense of feeling. Thirteen2thirteen is the final original track and more straight of a straight house track than the others, albeit it a rather minimal one, and the vocals provide a Chicago-influenced tears-on-the-dancefloor kind of soulfulness.

Two remixes of Avec also feature. The Plage 84 mix is chilled - slow beats loop with a sense of significant mass and filters give things a French feel. The Robert James mix is a deeper affair, minimal in style with the core vocal looped over a threatening bass line.

Nudes is out now on Zappruder Records, check out some of the tracks through Soundcloud above and the video for Avec below:

EP Review: UUOO - UUOO

UUOO is the self-titled debut EP from Sam Wooster, born and raised in Bristol before moving to Birmingham to study Jazz. UUOO, pronounced 'wu', is the realisation of Wooster's song-writing ambitions, and it reflects his varied taste in music - the impact of R&B, Stevie Wonder, jazz and electronic music all seeping through.

Opening track Tear It Down starts as a timid ballad, moments of early love captured by Wooster's raw vocal amidst a gently sparkling melody. Like a man having a seizure the track descends into heavy electronic stuttering rhythms about one-third through, the chorus an angry-in-love onslaught of assertiveness and determination to make love last. It's like Al Green's Let's Stay Together screamed in your face as you fall from the belly of an airplane, the fact your life is flashing before your eyes only serving to further convince you that love is all that can save you. It's that kind of dramatic a thing, Tear It Down.

The EP struggles to attain the same highs elsewhere, but still boasts three tracks that at least prove UUOO can write songs. Power is full of sub-bass and reverb, a heady haze of distorted electronic melodies almost drowning Wooster's vocals - where it struggles is in the way those melodies seem determined to fight with the vocals as opposed to emphasise and support them.

The Night is a circular R&B cut that loops back on a the same vocal refrain, sung and re-sung against a dubby, thick backing that once again threatens to overshadow everything else. Final track Our Time Is Up is more considerate to the listener, a little less chaotic although still with plenty of the multi-layered electronics UUOO is clearly so fond of. It benefits for the extra space, but as with most of these tracks the mix feels a little muddy, and the vocals could do with sitting a little higher.

Tear It Down is a good enough excuse for this EP to exist, an exciting and exhilarating onslaught. If UUOO can tame his sound a little then there is the real chance he could be a massive star - the key is that you can't play it all to eleven all of the time.

UUOO is released on 13 July.

Album Review: Black Frames - Dave Aju

Dave Aju's Heirlooms was one of my favourite albums of 2012 and therefore the follow up, Black Frames, was very welcome upon arriving in my inbox.

This new album comes amidst some personal turmoil for Aju... Since his last full-length release he has gone through the break-up of a long-term relationship and moved away from his home city of San Francisco. The title of Black Frames is taken from both the picture frames that house the 60s and 70s artwork in Aju's studio together with a reference to the place where breaking a sweat and breaking the rules both come together.

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Black Frames - Dave Aju

The album that ensues is lean and tight in comparison to Heirlooms. There are just nine tracks here and whilst the album still clocks in at almost an hour long a lot of the loose funkiness of the last album is gone. In its place is a comparatively stripped back and focused set of techno influenced house tracks. This is still unmistakably Dave Aju... there is still a lot of funk here, it is just buried considerably deeper than it was on his last album. Much as Matthew Dear has crafted several albums out of a sound that skirts pop and techno with intelligence, Aju does something similar here... Creating an album that is almost exclusively deeper and more minimal than the last, but still boasts a confidence and approachability that beguiles Black Frames' relatively heavy nature.

The resulting album takes a little longer to worm its way into your head, but still has some standout moments. Race On Haight opens the album with a slinky and soulful jazzy sound, gentle piano keys tinkle as if hiding nervously behind Aju's big deep voice amidst smoky instrumentation, one of Black Frames' rare slower moments. Nu Threads is a jacking house track built around a big bass line and Aju's vocals whilst Clean St is one of the album's highlights, a similarly jacking track that builds over nine-minutes.

Nobody Knows uses vocal manipulation to create rhythms out of Aju's repeated refrain "Where we get our shit together" and contrasting them against layered melodic vocals. Psylica hints at the personal strife this album was born of, an eight-minute throbbing bass epic that culminates in a vocal duet, both parties informing the other "My love can you see we are stuck between a rock and me / you", seemingly persistent, immovable and misunderstood...

It is clear Dave Aju has poured himself into Black Frame - the depth of the subject matter and the style and finesse evident in the album's production is evident. If it isn't as instantly gratifying as Heirlooms it will certainly reward those with the appetite and patience to explore electronic music with soul and brains.

Black Frames is out on 16 June through Circus Company, available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on CD or MP3 [affiliate links].

EP Review: Wabi-Sabi - Zebidiah

Zebidiah, real name Zeb Wayne, pulls together his love of varied genres into bizarre and kinetic debut release, Wabi-Sabi. Wayne is known to play both jazz and classical piano live yet also loves hip-hop, house and techno, and those varied influences come through on this release.

Having collaborated with Thomas Gandey on releases for Southern Fried and Nervous his work has been praised by Wolf & Lamb and Damian Lazarus, which is surprising once you hear Wayne's deep, soulful and sensual material.

Wabi-Sabi opens with a dubby collage of spoken vocals, chants and hollow bass that creates a heavily atmospheric piece that resembles a techno take on experimental jazz. Freeform components weave a complex structure around third-wall breaking vocals - "Do you want like a structure, or...?" - it is both surreal and captivating.

Second track Tengoku feels more conventional - insofar that it isn't pointing fingers at itself. Similarly warm, deep bass forms the foundation of the track building into a paranoid, post-apocalyptic sensation. The Soloist follows, melding soulful vocals around complex rhythms to create something that hints at a new twist on dubstep - funky yet alien.

Brassica provides a remix of Unpremeditated to round the EP out, and here the chaotic energy of the original feels even more alive. A driving 80s inspired electronic bass line and breakbeat form a punchy piece that loses a little subtlety but gains some legs.

Wabi-Sabi never stops thinking except where that cool Brassica beat comes in and you can imagine Zebidiah sitting right at home on Rebel Futurism or Clown & Sunset but right now Chasing Unicorns are fortunate to have him... Which is my way of saying: look out world.

Wabi-Sabi is out on 9 June through Chasing Unicorns. Preview via Soundcloud below.

Chasing Unicorns creeps ever closer to double figures with another fantastic offering, this time with a debut release from Zeb Wayne aka Zebidiah. Acclaimed talent and Civil Music man Brassica comes good once again on the remix front... Whilst this is actually Zebidiah’s debut solo EP, in the past he has collaborated (on Southern Fried Records and NYC's Nervous Records) with Thomas Gandey aka 'Cagedbaby', for EPs that got plenty of praise from Wolf & Lamb and Damian Lazarus. Support has been coming in droves for his latest release with glowing reviews already from DJ mag UK, NME, the Ransom Note and a full premier of the Brassica remix this bank holiday weekend on BBC Radio 6. Zebidiah / Wabi-Sabi / CU009 / 9th June Zebidiah - Unpremeditated (Original Mix) Zebidiah - Tengoku (Original Mix) Zebidiah - The Soloist (Original mix) Zebidiah - Unpremeditated (Brassica Remix) Available digitally 09/06/2014 Opener ‘Unpremediatated’ is a spacious, lurching muddle of slapping drum hits and firmly rooted bass that’s run through with weirdly treated vocal snippets, found sounds and instrumental daubs. Eventually it coalesces into an upbeat – pop leaning house track but never does it sound anything less than wholly inventive. The Brassica remix is an 80s sounding, serrated and arpeggiated affair with over sized drums, laser like searching synths and corrugated rums that make you want to move. Zebidiah’s next cut ‘Tengoku’ is another beguiling and off kilter arrangement of glitches, snatched drum hits and implicit post-garage rhythms. Never settling in one place it fires your every synapse with its urban sense of neo synthetic soul. Lastly, ‘The Soloist’ pairs skipping, rubbery drum kicks with off time percussion and an airy male vocal and, overall, has a playful sense of rhythm and unpredictable charm. This is a fantastic statement of intent from Zebidiah and announces the arrival of a fantastic new talent on on the label. For more information get in touch at contact@chasingunicorns.co.uk

EP Review: Love Magnetic - Moullinex

Moullinex came to my attention almost a year ago when he provided the standout remix of Munk's MunkySound. Here he is back in the Gomma stable with his first new material since his Flora album.

Lisbon-based Moullinex has a lot on his plate, with this release, a new album in the works and a number of remixes lined up, including one for the currently hyped Röyksopp / Robyn collaboration... All this and he also runs the Discotexas label.

A two-track release, Love Magnetic opens with the title track and it pushes Moullinex's trademark sunny straight-up house sound. A sturdy beat backs up a track where the real fun is in the slight disco touches and Luis Clara Gomes' soulful vocal. It is approachable, funky and has summer printed all the way through... but sadly isn't quite as much fun as that Munk track.

And to be honest, neither is the second track - though it doesn't really try to be. In comparison to Love Magnetic, Time and Tide is a deep cut with throbbing bass and and muted pads that delivers on the cosmic front but never feels like it quite reaches the heights it aspires to.

Both tracks here do the job but neither feels quite fully realised - good, but not quite great, they will sit well in many DJ sets but you are unlikely to want to listen repeatedly at home.

Love Magnetic is out on 13 June through Gomma, pre-order from Amazon.co.uk on MP3 [affiliate link].