Freddie B’s pre-festie selection
July 12th, 2004 by freddie96
For the first time in I don’t know how long, I’ll be missing The Big Chill this year… but my spirit will be with you all and raising many a glass in your direction from the French countryside where I’ll be. Here are a few of the new tunes I hope you get to hear over that magical weekend in the Malvern hills.
S M I L E
A Man Called Adam: All My Favourite A Man Called Adam (Southern Fried CD)
Ever since I first encountered A Man Called Adam in the flesh – at the first, epochal Naxos – I’ve been waiting for this record. AMCA have always been inspirational in their ability to combine the depths of real chill with more exhilarating heights, as well as all points in-between, so it’s perfect timing having this appear just in time for the Big Chill’s big birthday bash at Eastnor.
It’s everything I hoped it would be. Mixing feelgood old favourites with a healthy crop of corking new tunes, it’s a terrific reminder of just how loveable AMCA are. Indeed, love is their all-consuming subject and there’s not a track on here that doesn’t pay tribute to it in one form or another. Its transformational power is captured in ‘Easter Song’ and ‘Love Forgotten’ (gorgeously ambient, the perfect complement to Lol Hammond’s more rousing version); its melancholy edge in the chopped beats of ‘Steady’ and ‘Six More Days’; and its infectious optimism in ‘People Rule’, mixed here by Chris Coco into a modern-day Mediterranean anthem.
There are further highlights. Brenda Fassie, who tragically died only weeks ago, goes out here with a bang on ‘Earthsings’, a song that’s already earned a firm place in my party sets. ‘No Distance’ and ‘Heaven Now’ are two new, deeply reflective songs that are as good as anything they’ve made. ‘Barefoot In The Park’ re-appears as ‘Barefoot Acoustic’, as clear a demonstration of Sally Rodgers’ beautiful, emotive vocal style as you can get. Somehow ‘Superman’, originally recorded in 1991, sounds unbelievably fresh.
What becomes overwhelmingly clear in the course of these seventeen tracks is just how high AMCA’s quality control is. They may keep their fans waiting an age, but they never put out anything less than pure gold. If you’re looking for an apt summation of where chill out is in 2004 – and has been for the last decade – you’ll be hard pushed to find a more inspiring, summery record.
Chris Coco & Sacha Puttnam: Remasterpiece (EMI Classics)
Anyone daring to call an album ‘Remasterpiece’ is clearly feeling confident. But having made what will surely prove to be one of the defining records of 2004, they have every right to be. For what we have here is indeed a masterpiece of renewal: a rendition into a seamless mix of contemporary chill out of some of the finest passages of classical music.
On paper it might sound deeply suspicious, but you can rest assured there isn’t a whiff of William Orbit or Classic FM about this. On the contrary, Chris Coco’s mastery of mood has found its perfect foil in Sacha Puttnam’s classical expertise, and the two of them deliver a record that is both effortlessly flawless and, as you get to know its contours, hugely uplifting.
It isn’t out till September, but if you’re at Eastnor you’d be bonkers to miss its festival premiere. For this is musical history in the (re)making; my hunch is that this will be a new high watermark for devotees of chilled music. Certainly for me this is the most eye-opening and mind-expanding record I’ve heard all year.
R E L A X
Bill Wells: Pick Up Sticks (Leaf CD)
‘Also In White’, the last release from the Bill Wells Trio, was one of my defining albums of 2002. So I was hugely excited by the prospect of a new album from Stirling’s answer to Sun Ra (as the PR peeps put it) – and remain that way.
Clocking in at only 21 minutes, ‘Pick Up Sticks’, however, is simply a tease. For this Berlin-based collaboration between Bill Wells and Stefan Schneider (To Rococo Rot), Annie Whitehead and Barbara Morgenstern takes Wells’ elegant, cinematic jazz sound into tantalisingly minimal, delicately electronic territory… and then leaves you craving more.
For fans, this is further confirmation that Bill Wells is one of the unsung stars of the UK music scene. For the uninitiated, ‘Also In White’ might be a much better place to start, but for fans this is enough to keep us going for at least, oh, a few months.
D A N C E
Various Artists: Ori[jah]nal Selecta (Orijahnal Records CD)
Simon Smugg is a true selecta. His enthusiasm for reggae is second to none, and his taste for the defining beat is that of the true connoisseur. So what a treat to have him select thirteen terrific tunes and propel them into the hands of today’s most rhythmically astute remixers: Tom Middleton, Shur I Kan, Mark Pritchard, Lol Hammond, Palmskin Productions and of course Mr Smugg himself.
So here you’ll find the likes of Horace Andy, Sugar Minott, Frankie Paul, Sista Widey and Alton Ellis stripped of their familiar settings and recast as driving dancehall – or, on occasion, something altogether more chilled. All in all it’s a powerful, punchy record that firmly establishes Orijahnal as a label to watch.
Pathaan’s Global Sunset (Altura 2 x CD)
After last year’s Indian Sunset, the man whose record collection truly encompasses the globe returns with another big double set. As before, there’s a mellow Sunset mix followed by a more uplifting Sunrise mix. The former brings together big names like Chris Coco, Fragile State, Ralph Myerz and Massive Attack with a host of lesser-known talents; the latter is altogether more eclectic, but with Oi Va Voi, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the Amalgamation of Soundz in the mix, it’s designed to get you up off the floor and dancing again. Perfect for devotees of world groove who’re up for an all night session, be that out in the open air or simply kicking back at home.
T H I N K
Murcof: Utopia (Leaf CD)
A mini feast for fans of Fernando Corona’s elegant, minimal electronica: three quite different versions of ‘Ulysses’ (his most recent single), two new tracks, and six remixes of previous work. With the exception of a couple of unnecessarily trying tunes, this is deep stuff; by which I mean the kind of sound that requires a similar level of care in the listener as it undoubtedly does from the composer.
For my money, it’s ‘Ulysses’ that provides the truly outstanding moments. The original is a ten-minute odyssey of layered sound – ambient, orchestral and otherwise – that travels from the tragic and funereal into something almost celebratory. In Fax’s hands, this transforms itself into ultra-minimal house that is hypnotically easy on the ear, creating the ideal soundscape for some solitary thinking, writing or reading.
S I N G L E S E L E C T I O N
AGK: Moonboots (white 12) / Moonboots EP (CD)
These guys might still be one of the chill-out scene’s best kept secrets, but it won’t be for much longer judging by their form here. Combining immaculately programmed electronica with delicate vocal stylings, the two right little beauties on this 12 conjure epiphanic moments in a green garden somewhere in deepest Dorset. While ‘Moonboots’ takes ‘Walking On The Moon’ way out into deep space, ‘The Shortest Romance’ gradually edges into deep house territory (echoes of Alucidnation here). If you find the Moonboots EP, you’ll be lucky enough to hear AGK’s terrific take on ‘Planet Earth’ along with two thoroughly mellow instrumentals. Seek them out.
Cornershop: Topknot / Natch (Rough Trade 7)
After some time out making movies, Tjinder Singh returns with a big, ripe, juicy plum of a leftfield pop song. The maverick hit of this summer that will have everyone asking ‘What is that song with the incredible Punjabi folk flavour?’ Well, maybe.
Butch Cassidy: Hear What I Say EP (Fenetik 12)
Now that reggae’s firmly back on the map, the aficionados are beginning to really enjoy themselves. Butch Cassidy in one such, here remaking the classic 70s sound of Junior Bytes’ ‘Fade Away’ to give it a more soulful, funky edge. Love it.
Rider Shafique: Rider (One Eye 12)
Another reggae-flavoured tune from a young British label worth watching. Sampling Scotty’s classic ‘Draw Your Brakes’, this throws dancehall and garage into the mix to create one big riddim.
Sia: Rewrite (Go Beat 10) Justus Köhncke / Adem remixes
In this age of Katie Melua and Joss Stone, Sia could be said to be shooting herself in the foot by pursuing such diverse forms of musical perfection. Following strong remixes from the Schnauss and Four Tet, one of the finest tunes off ‘Colour The Small One’ – a terrific, seemingly overlooked album – Berlin deep house maestro Köhncke really does the dancefloor business here, while Fridge’s Adem Ilhan turns it into a ambient duet.
{Now go wild in the countryside}
