Soulphiction, aka Michel Baumann, aka Jackmate has produced a wonderful home-listening album for Sonar Kollektiv. I’ve found Do You Overstand? far more enjoyable than the new Quiet Village one because of its much looser, easy-going, unforced atmosphere. Where Silent Movie sounds clinical in places, Soulphiction’s tracks can ooze out at you slowly or jump up suddenly; they’ve got an immediate pull which probably comes from the use of, you know, actual instruments.
“Cargo” is a jazzy romp which could also do a good job doubling for a BBC2 kids’ science show (those synth washes are SO BBC Schools), while “Ghana Wadada” stomps along on the kind of groovy beat that Quiet Village would be glad to smother in the pursuit of that Avalanches sound they can’t quite imitate. Soulphiction instead accents it with beautifully sparse vocals and a delicate string section. Understated and authentic, the track presses the same buttons that dOP have been jabbing over the past six months (see “Foly”, which I put in the last mix posted here).
“Velveteens” seems to reference Homework-era Daft Punk and Jan Jelinek all at the same time. “Prison Song” beats Matmos at their own foundsound game, and “Whizzdom And Understanding” provides the album’s most upbeat, driving cut. All in all it’s a luxurious but unfussy album, unhurried but lively. Continuing from his stellar Blackbox album as Jackmate last year, Michel Baumann has now made a wonderfully complimentary album here, one that could soundtrack many people’s long, idle summer evenings. There are some samples on the label’s album page, and you can buy the CD or mp3s from there too:
Soulphiction - Do You Overstand? [Sonar Kollektiv]
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