Jump Into - Uffe

One of my favourite albums from 2014 was Max Graef's debut LP, Rivers of The Red Planet. It's one of those albums which hangs together as an entire album incredibly well. It's a full listening experience with different moods and tempos flowing throughout but without it feeling like a playlist or a collection of individual songs which sit together a little disjointedly. It's something that I've always found especially difficult to achieve with electronic music but Graef's mix of jazz and soul samples into deep house and hip hop is infectious and brilliantly done. The concept is great with even the album cover itself really fitting into the feel of the record and helping to bring that concept to life. Check out the full album stream below, it's really fantastic, even for someone, such as myself, who wouldn't describe themselves as a house or "club-music" kind of guy.

 
So when I heard that "the next Max Graef" is due to drop a new album in October, I was excited, if also a little wary. Wary because this new Graef, who goes by the name of Uffe, an electronic producer and DJ from Copenhagen who already has an LP out from 2015, is releasing his next LP through Tartelet, the label that released Graef's LP. That should make me feel at ease as Tartelet are a very solid label, but instead it immediately made me think that it was Uffe's connection to Graef's label rather than to his music that would make him "the next Max Graef", as so often happens with the hypemachine.



I'm still undecided as to whether Jump Into, the debut track from the album No!, makes Uffe into the next Graef or not but ultimately, I don't really want another Graef, the one we've already got is doing a great job. I can certainly see the Graef comparisons; Uffe has created some killer jazzy deep house with many of the same squelching synths and bursting effects as Graef. Jump Into seems more of a bona fide club tune than many of Graef's tracks and has a searing bass that thuds its way through swirling effects for the track's full 7 minutes. The shimmering effects which pop in and out of the track in almost a random manner keep everything super interesting and fresh. The first minute and a half before the vocal breakdown is super cool, like walking through a rainforest at dusk with only the distant croaks of creatures and glisten of stars to be heard. The vocal breakdown is incredibly generic with its echo effect and dull, disconnected voice saying something relatively artsy about music. But Jump Into is a solid track that's brought me back for listen after listen and I for one can't wait to hear more from No! in October.

Uffe
Jump Into
Tartelet
2x Vinyl LP out: 14/10/2016 at Tartelet  

Nobody Can Live Forever - The Existential Soul of Tim Maia - Tim Maia

Some artists have a story which can be more infectious than their music. My true introduction to the classic rock band Cream was through the excellent documentary Beware of Mr Baker (2012), which documented the life of the band's drummer, Ginger Baker. Cream are an incredible group - with Clapton on guitar and Ginger on drums it was bound to be - but it's not the kind of music I lap up enthusiastically, playing on repeat until I know every slight key change, peddle press and bass tweak. But Ginger's story and character is so incredibly bold, brash and hedonistic, it becomes magnetic; pulling me in so I can learn more about the complex man who's true rock n' roll credentials are shown by the fact he's known by his first name; Ginger. It's a story of booze soaked violence, drugs, sex, crazy falling outs with his band mates, his label, his family. It's one of those true rock n' roll lifestyles which we all crave a little but most, like myself, are happy to live them vicariously through the true stars, ultimately being content with life as a lame office drone when we see the present day Ginger; grouchy, finding it hard to walk and living on a ranch in South Africa, penniless and having broken most of his friendships. Beware of Mr Baker is a great film and I think it's on Netflix and other such sites so do check it out. The trailer's enough to make me want to watch it again: 

It was a desire to be close to this character, even if sat in my bedroom, watching a Youtube video of Ginger doing a drum solo back in the '70s, that lead me to listen to Ginger's music. It's all very, very good, but it didn't totally grab me. It was Ginger himself who did that. I eventually saw Ginger playing live, playing the jazz music he talks about so passionately in the documentary. He had to have help walking to the drums but no help when playing them. He was brilliant, the band was brilliant, the sound was fantastic but I hadn't really gone for the music, but to see a bona fide rock and roll legend.

So is the case with Tim Maia. There's something about Maia's music which has always distanced me a little. I think it's his voice. It's deep and rounded and perhaps a bit too polished for my liking. The instrumentation is great, moving from funk to soul to pop, but it's not as good to my ear as that of another Brazilian super star, Marcos Valle. But Tim Maia sounds like he was a proper star. Watch the cool video to accompany this compilation to learn a bit more about this crazy cat;

  

The chubby, slightly nerdy looking Maia with his big afro, dodgy moustache and bad album covers, contrasted with the stories of his rock n' roll lifestyle, is enough to grab my attention. All that said, Maia's music is damn groovy, with some great horns and instrumentation and has a really great mix of American soul and the kind of Brazilian experimentation that is in much of the country's music in the 1970s. This compilation by Luaka Bop, the same guys who did the William Onyeabor compilation, is a great intro to the man's vast back catalogue and is getting a repress later this month. Check out one of the standout tracks, Bom senso, and let me know what you think. To my ears this track has a very Tom Jones feel. Nice. 

   

       

Tim Maia

Nobody Can Live Forever - The Existential Soul of Tim Maia

Luaka Bop

Double Vinyl Repress out: 22/07/2016 at Resident