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September: 18 albums you need to hear this month
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Alan Abrahams 'Portable' (!K7)
Immaculately dressed and stood behind a vintage-style condenser mic, Alan Abrahams looks like a 60s soul idol. The South African certainly has the rich, resonant voice for it, but no soul idol ever crooned while also working sequencers, FX and handheld gizmos. Abrahams (also known as Bodycode and Portable) makes emotive vocal electronica and esoteric house. Although a long-time Berlin resident, the music of his homeland echoes through this elegant debut. It’s most discernable on ‘Bondage’, which fuses a jerky tribal rhythm and quaking bass keys to Abrahams’ haunting tones. On the instrumental ‘Séraphin’, meanwhile, eerie synths, rattling rim shots and smouldering drums build a track that pulses with dark malevolence.
8/10
