At the risk of
sounding like Victoria Coren Mitchell/Richard Osman, what's the
connection between Steve Coleman And Five Elements' 1988 album 'Sine
Die' and Felix Laband's new album on Compost Records? I'll tell
you at the end of the show (I mean review).
If you've
recovered from the single, 'Derek And Me', here's the whole 14-track
album of more leftfield cross-genre dance. Fans of Compost Records
will recognise the name Felix Laband from last years' compilation
'Compost Sechshundert' but apart from that we've not heard much of
late from this South African electronica musician with a penchant for
an old skool cut & paste approach to dance/electronica/field
recordings (and cover art for that matter).
No idea who
Derek is in 'Derek And Me' and it might be too late to "stop
crap" but this isn't it and it's definitely in that WARM/James
Alexander Bright(!K7) tail-cocking at convention genre.
I was going to
say that track along with another single called 'Snug Retreat'
- as a re-imaged [Black] Forest (The Cure track) in a South African
synth-pop 80s disco - are the extremes but this album is so much more
than some quirky tunes.
I wouldn't want
to put you off with the term 'concept album' or, in Laband's
explanation, “I have sampled a lot from documentaries from the
80s crack epidemic in impoverished African American communities and
believe my work speaks unapologetically for the lost and
marginalised, for those who are the forgotten casualties of the war
on drugs".
And there's the
knock-on troubles of "urban terrorism" ('Dreaming In
Johannesburg') which is strangely followed by the music-box
house of 'Death Of A Pervert'(!), 'Death Of A Migrant'(!) and 'Dreams
of Loneliess' which prepares us for the re-inpretation of Beethoven's
hip-hop period for 'We Know Major Tom's A Junkie': this is really
great. Then, get ready for the hip-jazz [re]cut coke ad, '5
Seconds Ago' and Laband does Stones Throw, '7 Rise 7 House'.
What's
strange is that as deep and thoughtful as the themes are, there's a
beautiful and humourous side that reflects his inspiration of the the
100 year old Dadaism movement (and Hannah Höch for the
cover art). And in the end, if you can image a cut'n'paste
electronic musical of Judge Judy set in America and South Africa,
with the 'The Soft White Hand' of a svegali Malcolm McLaren laughing
in a pre-war German post-war disco;
this might just be that concept album. Thankfully, it's
Laband that just about wins out; good
always triumphs over evil right?
Thinking
back to the 'Steve Coleman' question, I've never quite
understood the phrase, "war on drugs" and, your answer for
the starter for 10, the graffiti on wall on the cover of 'Sine Die'
reads, "Death To Crack Dealers" - that's the connection.
And I suspect it's still on that wall in Brooklyn, NYC over 30 years
later. Make of that what you will.
Artist: Felix Laband
Title: The Soft White Hand
Release date: 18th November, 2022
Label: Compost Records
Cat. No: CPT 605-1
Format: LP / Digital
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