I've found that some of the big hitters of the electronic contingient of Warp seem to have gone off the boil somewhat. I've found Plaid's last effort, Greedy Baby, showing the odd flash of brilliance but on the whole the same frustrating lack of energy and ideas that happened on Spokes. Also Autechre still seem to be languishing in the realms of rhythmic manipulation that I'm sure is very satisfying to create, challenging to listen to but sadly not a pleasure that touches the soul.
While I sift back to the older albums on Warp, enjoy some of the new acoustic elements filtering through, a little electronic gem has nudged its way to the surface. There is an o2 ad campaign that is going on at the moment with a natty little fractured electric affair going on the background, I myself thought "sounds like the kind of thing you'd find on Warp". Lo and behold it IS the thing you find on Warp, its Jackson And His Computer Band and you've been listening to Utopia! Let the full joy of Utopia unfold on you and you get dramatic shifts in synths, fractured female vocal stabs and a crisp electro break. Then you get the absolute dream of a breakdown with a lovely retro snippet of the Utopia vocal, lush.
The album is full of this sparky lively fractured beats approach. Parts of me think Daft Punk, other bits think Plaid, some bits push my dancefloor buttons and others my soundtracky buttons. Thankfully its not a one track album with so many wicked moments like TV Dogs capturing my imagination.
I'm having a good Warp time at the moment with Maximo Park, Gravenhurst, Broadcast and Jackson And His Computer Band showing that the reasonable people are still firing out the cutting edge of music, without getting needlessly lost in technology.
