Author: Dave

James Blake
Limit To Your Love
ATLAS

There is something about James Blake, London’s bedroom producer-de-jour every damn day for the past year and a half, that is a little unsettling. Perhaps it’s that listening and watching a producer progress in such a bizarrely natural way makes it impossible to not fear that the sickeningly young musician from London has in fact planned this gentle build up of reputation and style all along and has a mind so meticulous and forward-thinking that he could make the London music scene cave in on itself at any given moment. It perfectly mirrors his approach to beat-making; from the unassuming nudge of bass, to the swirling fog of vocal samples (often by himself), to the exact moment when you realise he has you caught in a sonic trance.

His latest release, the cover of Feist’s Limit To Your Love may sound on first listen nothing like hissy the lo-fi buzz of RnB mixed melters made under the Harmonimix pseudonym, nor the heavily layered twists and turns of CMYK and Air And Lack Thereof, but it’s unmistakably his first step into a territory he’s made exclusively for himself. His warm voice softly meandres its way through a reinforced piano backbone as gently as a spectre glides through walls, and the overpowering bass bubble and drum kick that adds something so minimally brilliant that I almost hate the musically gifted bastard. But as the melody slowly shifts and the hook comes back at a perfectly planned moment you can’t help but want more. In just four minutes Blake introduces us to what could be a new era of urban sound for London; furthermore, it reflects what he’s been doing for the past year: slowly appointing himself the unofficial voice of a generation that hasn’t even been given a name yet.

Stanley

Limit To Your Love is out Monday November 8th through ATLAS Recordings.

Mark Sultan
$
Last Gang

The name Mark Sultan might not set bells ringing, but anyone who has experienced The King Khan and BBQ show will have firsthand experience of the man’s genius. A stalwart of the modern garage rock scene, Sultan has toured with Black Lips, Vivian Girls and Clinic and released records on prestigious labels from Sub Pop to In The Red. Now, you feel, is the time for Mark Sultan to make a name for himself in his own right.

New album ‘$’ on Last Gang is good enough to do exactly this. After murky album opener ‘Icicles’, Sultan gets into his stride by combining his signature fuzzy guitars with a doo-wop twist that makes him stand out from the crowd. An early highlight is ‘Ten of Hearts’, a slower paced, almost ballad-like song that highlights Sultan’s vocal prowess. There’s a strong 60s influence at play here, yet the production has a modern edge which give the instrumentation an instant kick.

Further standout tracks follow thick and fast, whether it be ‘Go Beserk’ with its punchy riffs and infectious chorus hook, or the soulful croon of ‘I’ll Be Loving You’. This variation serves the album well, with enough stomping garage rock tracks but slower songs which give it a gooey romantic core.

Of course this path has been trodden many times before whether be in Garage rock’s initial conception or it’s revival over the past decade, but few artists carry it off better than Sultan. ‘$’ is a record made by somebody with a vast knowledge of source material new and old, and it shows by paying perfect homage to its heritage.

Big Sleekz

Mark Sultan – Go Berserk by Crossfire Music