Gelee Royal - Sunset

Alright, this is an odd one. Jacques Gelee is not a person, it’s two people. The two people are called Christian Vogel and Tom Knopp, but apparently they’re not the Christian Vogel of techno-nodding fame, or the Tom Knopp who, quoting the press release, is “not the famous Jim Knopf of Michael Ende’s paeditrician phantasies”. With me so far? Probably not, so it’s just as well that the sounds on this album are fresh, funky and fly and the sort of thing you can just slam on and follow. The rhythms are hypnotising and well-constructed, the bass is subby and dubby, and the melodies are skippy and flippy. At times it sounds like the yellow guy form the levi’s advert has taken a batch of the brown acid (Comp.Imp.), at times it sounds like a lysergic detroit (Access Denied) and at other times it sounds like Aphex Twin has been digitised, and thrown into a computer where he proceeds to act like a rather malevolent virus (Know You). At all times though, it’s different, daring, challenging and hilarious. There’s as much Devo in here as Carl Craig, and it’s essentially a kind of art-techno-noveaux. Which you may of course hate, but it’s well worth a listen for those madder moments when you need something spicy.

More info: www.chaishop.com/sunset

Singles

They're flat, they're round, they're black and they've got a hole in the middle.