And thought he was amazing. No messing about, just pure and simple, proper old fashioned DJing. Hat's off lads. 'Antique Soul' – Smoove & Turrell. The Achievement. Rare and priceless. Stone hatch patterns autocad. Listening to. Released: 6.20.11 Jalapeno Records / JAL 112 Word By Andy DeVilbiss If you're a regular visitor to this space (and we here at MM certainly hope you are), you might recall me mentioning an English act a few weeks back. If you didn't catch their name the first time, etch it into your dome now, funkateers. Smoove & Turrell. Smoove's the funky DJ and producer. John Turrell's the ridiculous singer. And their second full-length release, Eccentric Audio, should be on the year-end 'Best of 2011' list of any funk/soul critic worth their salt. Whether I'm salty enough to sway your opinion is debatable, but it will be on mine. It's rare that I have expectations for an album, but, after I marked out for 2009's Antique Soul, I had high expectations for Smoove & Turrell's follow-up. I don't know if the dreaded sophomore jinx applies in the UK generally, but it certainly doesn't apply to this here joint. Eccentric Audio exceeded my expectations, and it's better than their debut, which made me wonder how they tweaked their recipe to create this new and improved awesome sauce. Through a little research (yes, we do research here from time to time), it turns out there was a huge difference in the two albums. Apparently, the beats on their first effort were, paraphrasing his own assessment, Smoove's leftovers, unfinished tracks, and what-have-you's that he felt were missing something. Turrell's voice turned out to be that missing something. Think of it like a baseball manager bringing in the ace closer from the bullpen. This time around, both guys were on the coaching staff, and that explains why Eccentric Audio has more focused and refined vibe than its predecessor. It was a collaboration between the two from the start, built from the ground up over two years while they worked and performed together, breaking in a solid backing band to help in the studio along the way. Smoove brings a thoughtful flow and precise production throughout with a mix of styles that keep the journey fresh. He handles neo-soul ('Let Yourself Go'), disco-house ('In Deep'), jazz ('Slow Down'), cinematic funk ('Money') seamlessly while honing his hip-hop edges and shining his dancing shoes. Even moments that might initially seem a bit derivative, like channeling Michael Jackson in the opening riffs of 'It's The Falling In Love,' feel fresh and shiny (that track features some sterling bass work by Andy Champion). He creates ear-grabbing layers while never diluting the power and emotion of Turrell's voice.
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