Reviews
November: 18 albums you need to hear this month
Month's listening sorted
Om Unit 'Self' (Cosmic Bridge)
Whether he’s making jungle, hip hop, footwork, slo-mo house, disco edits or John Carpenter-style electro, Jim Coles (aka Om Unit) guarantees meditative atmospheres and hi-res production values. On this new album, Coles is on the form of his life, hitting intimate emotions and, particularly with the rolling breaks and strings of ‘Out Of The Shadows’ and ‘Despite It All’, sweeping your imagination away into vast cosmic vistas. In this context, the three vocal tracks (spoken by DRS and Rider Shafique, and sung by Amos) actually bring the album back down to earth somewhat, even though they’re very ably performed: Om Unit’s sounds are more than capable of reaching heights that mere words can’t. Joe Muggs
7/10
Acid Jesus 'Flashbacks 1992 - 1998' (Alter Ego Recordings)
Roman Flügel and Jörn Elling Wuttke’s Acid Jesus project dates back to the early 90s and a heyday of German techno, but this two-disc, triple-vinyl retrospective proves it’s music that’s aged well (or hasn’t even aged at all). Soulful and deep like Underground Resistance but also hallucinogenic and trippy like Bloodsugar-era Andrew Weatherall, tempos range from slow and spacey to manic. But tracks are never all-out brutalist assaults, and there’s always room for a serene pad or tangled acid line that elevates them above pure functionality. The many highlights included here, from the liquid funk of ‘Odyssey’ to the slick electro of ‘Hibernation Drive’, ensure its status as an essential techno document. KJ Caryl
8/10
Funkadelic 'Reworked By Detroiters' (Westbound)
Of all the great ‘heritage’ bands, the sprawling, crazed Funkadelic seemed like the least likely candidate to throw out a decent remix album. Yet here we have something better than we could have dreamed. Rather than cashing in with big names, Westbound have recruited the people who understand the music best: the mostly black producers of house, techno and electro from Funkadelic’s adopted home town. Names like Underground Resistance, Moodymann, Ectomorph and Claude Young should be all you need to hear to assure you you’re in safe hands, and the results are stunning, as they twist the disco, funk and psychedelia into fresh and crisp patterns. Joe Muggs
9/10
Visionist 'Value' (Big Dada)
Visionist’s follow-up to ‘Safe’ once again invites you into a troubled world, as seen through the eyes of an artist. But this time, we’re left blinking into neon lights post-anxiety attack, with our pupils hastily trying to readjust and our pulses still racing. The album starts as it means to go on, with a haze of cinematic emotions and crackly crooning; the 10-track LP also features Visionist’s own vocals for the first time, as the producer explores weighty ideas of self-love, self-deprecation and self-preservation. The LP’s reserved, unadulterated strength is what carries it through, saturating tracks such as ‘Homme’ and all of its masculine connotations. If ‘Safe’ was Visionist’s “personal portrait of anxiety”, then ‘Value’ is his awakening. Jasmine Kent-Smith
9/10
Rationale 'Rationale' (Warner Brothers)
“Bops and ballads” is one of the best descriptions we’ve used to describe the music of Rationale, aka Tinashe Fazakerley. Alongside MNEK, he’s one of the buzziest young male artists to be signed to a major label as of late. But while MNEK sells Mariah-esque r’n’b via classy pop, Tinashe arguably offers a more truthful strain of soul. Opener ‘Re:Up’ (co-written by Zena Kitt, who also appears on the track) cleverly uses a dealer drop-off as a metaphor for affection and addiction (“waiting for the Re:Up/I can’t get enough”), while ‘Loving Life’ channels Jermaine Jackson’s ‘Do What You Do’ but takes it to church rather than the charts. 'Fast Lane’, meanwhile, drives straight to the pop pulpit with a chorus Jim Steinman would be proud of. Ralph Moore
8/10
