Author: Matt Oliver

Album Review: Tone of Arc / ‘The Time Was Right’ (No.19 Music)

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tone of arc the time was right

★★★★☆

Derrick Boyd starts with some real rock ‘n’ roll with not-gone-to-bed-yet swagger. Doing the twangy dance/punk-funk/DIY disco thing that sticks up the dance floor, yet unafraid to grab a keyboard and ensure all eyes are on him as a synth evangelist, the transition from blasé, on-the-road icon to retuning the glam and chasing stardom/stars means timing really is everything.

To make you buy into Boyd and Zoe Presnick’s vision, they impersonate a Parliament-style unit with less pizzazz (though the title track gets close) and more streetwise attitude posting freedom of spirit in its own rough-and-ready way. “Chalk Hill” has got some serious boogie to it, flumed in cigarette smoke and the psychedelic collision “Lost in the Machine” is part freestyled jam, part culmination of everything crashing down around them. The languid performance means seduction is an obvious knock-on, a picture of greasy cool, faded cologne and fumbling groupies where “Where You Belong” murmurs the groggiest of come-ons.

Eighties electro-popper “Goodbye Horses” is a complete wardrobe change that hangs around in cold light, and highlights the restless (or relentless) mood of Boyd always wanting to be into something. Improbably perhaps, it provides substance to when the hazed and bedraggled vocals need back-up. Track by track the vibe looks to settle down, the gruff funk simmered down into a gleam until it becomes born again, notwithstanding the “Hardly Standing” explosion from a shoegaze torpor. An album to get tongues wagging.

File under: Dead Seal, Tussle, Matthew Dear

Album Review: The Black Dog / ‘Tranklements’ (Dust Science)

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The Black Dog Tranklements

★★★☆☆

The Black Dog mark their territory with an hour long warding off of intruders. For bark and bite, the veteran unit’s ambient techno, IDM and interstellar ordinance still doesn’t have to come at you in a blaze of teeth and slobber. The collection of astro bric-a-brac, as if to verify their whereabouts (and title), is intentionally charged with jolting the LP’s flow, but the unannounced changeability of sound does as good a job by itself anyway.

“Atavistic Resurgence” grunts through electro with confrontation on its mind, representative of the sparse shunting together of technology where hard head rests on slender skeleton. Carried on by the blurting “Pray Crash I,” the album is full of heavy loads made nimbler than the naked ear predicts, and primed to dominate venues from only a handful of nuts and bolts, where The Dog’s prestige commands attention even from a position of sat back and scheming. “Internal Collapse” draws you into a game of nerves before the tension tolls, and “Death Bingo” is a duel to see if gravity can be defied.

Any sterility you may experience is just life adrift in the cosmos. Besides, “Cult Mentality” simply strolls as classic deep techno, a loop lieutenant all about business and again, composure with the hint of a scowl. “Hymn for SoYo” is not as smooth, but holds the same ideals, and “First Cut” harks back to bleep-era Sheffield and rolling four-track thunder.

File under: Future Sound of London, Plaid, Dadavistic Orchestra

Album Review: Classixx / ‘Hanging Gardens’ (Innovative Leisure)

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classixx hanging gardens

★★★★☆

The photogenic sound of synth-surf LA brought to you by Michael David and Tyler Blake reaches a convergence point of ’80s saturation — from under a rather prosaic moniker — and something you should live your life and be free by. Where “I’ll Get You” doesn’t make good on its cheery promise of ‘do you like bass?’, and “Long Lost” is either gorgeously dreamy or sickly sweet, the rushes of sunshine and neon in many ways fit the stereotype of bashing hexagon-shaped drum machines and keyboards manned by hair gel models.

Far from bringing these elements out of retirement, Classixx have always kept the keyboard dream alive, but a subtle Fleetwood Mac recognition on the title track as means of introducing themselves is the right mix of kitsch and originality. “Holding On” is a certified day-brightener with essential Gallic components to make it a summertime smash, conversely showing worst kept secrets working in a big way; while the sparse bassline that rubs its funk through “Rhythm Santa Clara,” in place of the phat slap bass found elsewhere, is a fine example of going synthing without having to flower and “blossom” all the time.

Throughout the crystal peaked backdrop, softer shades shadow ubiquitous buoyancy. Old dogs aren’t taught new tricks, but whether wide-eyed and bouncily doing pure pop or timed to a hammock sway (the affectionate thoughts found on “A Fax from The Beach”), Classixx reveal an Eden for when the groove needs to go outside.

File under: Letherette, Miguel Campbell, Justice

Compilation Review: ‘Pukka Up X – A Decade of Dance’ (Pukka Up)

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Pukka Up X - A Decade of Dance

★★★★☆

The ten-year anniversary of the Pukka Up imprint acts for the acceptable side of mainstream clubbing. Forget a backhanded compliment; it’s a gratifying boost to court tracks that have held their own to a widespread audience after working their way up from the underground or clubbing outskirts in a pleasingly natural advance. After ruling Ibiza waves and lighting up London — leading to a ten-party/country birthday jump-off — PU’s 24-track document will set barbeques a-sizzle, pouring plenty of recognizable arm-raisers into a funky sing-it-back punchbowl, served by a crew of get down-guarantors.

Boarding the Boat disc, Fish Go Deep’s “The Cure & the Cause” continues to dart with the suppleness of a veteran Yoga instructor, telling Harry Romero’s Chicago throwback “I Go Back” to breathe more easily. Vocal staples from Joey Negro, ATFC, Soul Central, Bob Sinclar and Blaze are tunes most can greet with a weekend-has-landed grin, modern greats that once docked will have you whistling them on your way to work.

With Swedish House Mafia and Axwell about to start their bids for world domination (or before the piano riffs became too much), the big room Club disc takes up the baton for wanting to wear the next clubber’s sweat, Avicii and The Freaks involved in showing how well your deodorant’s performing. With EDM a transparent presence without it being nauseating, Pukka Up blow a kiss at rivals getting both the compilation and the classics market wrong. X marks the spot.

File under: Junior Jack, Sam Obernik, D Ramirez