Don't Ask Me Why I Do That Stuff
When I Come Back Around by Jamie Lidell
Now, what have we here? Genius-level electonic funk that sounds like it was produced by Great Purple One, only its from the future, and robots are having sex to it. Seriously this is the stuff right here: huge wobbley synth lines, propulsive choppy drums, twitchy basslines, and Jamie's voice - this is a genuine jam we're talking about!
Who is this cat and how did he get so damn funktastic? Well, believe it or not, he's a white boy from Britian. He was raised in the country and started taking music classes in primary school (xylophones and drums), and wrote and performed a musical in the dark. At his next school he studied trombone and made his first recordings, using cymbal and synth. Soonafter, he got his first guitar and experimented with several effects peddles, and began recording songs in his bedroom on a tape deck with layered backing vocals and guitars. Later, with moves to Brighton, then to London and back to Brighton in between, Jamie learned all kinds of studio sound manipulation techniques (mic placement, mixing techniques), and started a band, Subhead, with friends of his. He then met and began working with another young musical genius, Christian Vogel, and they formed Super_Collider - as S_C they've released two full-length albums, to high regard in the press, garnering comparisons to Marvin Gaye, Funkedelic and Prince. Seriously.
In 2000, Jamie released his first solo full-length (simultaniously released by WARP and Spymania, Squarepusher's label), Muddlin' Gear - it freaked people out because it super freaky: very experimental sounding, musically speaking, but many of the songs feature Lidell's multi-layered vocals.
Here is where all of this leads us, the new album: Multiply - ten tracks of genius-level electro-funk, soulful slow-burners, and some seriously freaky dancin' music, all of which is laced with the experimental undercurrent present in his other projects. I cannot reccomend this album highly enough - I know for sure it will end up on my top-ten list this year. Its a bit early in the year to be making that kind of claim, but the diversity and intensity of the tracks, paired with Lidell's smooth-as-honey voice make for a really fantastic listen.
Right now, you can buy the 12" promo single from WARP with two other solid jams on it, but you'll have to wait a bit to get the album - Multiply is out in early June - when WARP gets their pre-order setup for this, I'll post it here.
Check out this live review and keep up with the news on Jamie's WARP page. Also check out this video clip from another of his funky jams, "The City."