Jackson
Rock OnDoing for pop what Prefuse 73 did for hip hop... Are Warp back on the pulse again?
Warp's latest signing could also possibly turn out to be their best for several years. A welcome return to the label's electronic roots, Jackson does for pop what Prefuse 73 did for hip hop, rewiring it through his laptop's processors and spitting it back out mutated and transformed. On this three-track prelude to his debut album Smash, we get to see that the hype that has been building around the young Parisien over the last year is entirably justified.
Rock On, one of the best tracks I've heard this year, manages to combine a classic peak time house anthem feel with a pulsing chopped up buzz; throw in echoing synths and a deep bassy kick and you have an absolute anthem on your hands. Track two, Arpeggio does just that; a filthy metallic synth and electro drums underpin a clenched-fist-in-the-air arpeggio, before the whole thing gives way to an elegaic piano and then swells towards a peak of distorted stuttering drums and shimmering effects.
Final track Head Ache is a collision between almost cartoon-esque synth loops and drums that sound like a skipping CD. Exciting and fresh as all these sound, it will be interesting to see how Jackson's sound develops over the course of an album or two. He may not be quite a one trick pony, but there's a threat that repeated over and over again he could quickly stop sounding fresh and more like a stuck record. One to watch though for sure, and head and shoulders above most artists' debut efforts. More please.
Rock On, one of the best tracks I've heard this year, manages to combine a classic peak time house anthem feel with a pulsing chopped up buzz; throw in echoing synths and a deep bassy kick and you have an absolute anthem on your hands. Track two, Arpeggio does just that; a filthy metallic synth and electro drums underpin a clenched-fist-in-the-air arpeggio, before the whole thing gives way to an elegaic piano and then swells towards a peak of distorted stuttering drums and shimmering effects.
Final track Head Ache is a collision between almost cartoon-esque synth loops and drums that sound like a skipping CD. Exciting and fresh as all these sound, it will be interesting to see how Jackson's sound develops over the course of an album or two. He may not be quite a one trick pony, but there's a threat that repeated over and over again he could quickly stop sounding fresh and more like a stuck record. One to watch though for sure, and head and shoulders above most artists' debut efforts. More please.
