With electronica being assimilated to the mainstream via tv ads, fashion shows, peer-to-peer etc synths and drum machines are increasingly becoming as insignificant as wall paper. Everyone_s using the same sounds on the same machines and ultimately everything starts to sound uniform. Then suddenly one record comes along and holds your breath. Jonathan Saul Kane has been knocking beat-based tracks for a major part of his life. The man_s an anthology when it comes to old-school dance music, disco, funk, electro, hip hop, you name it, but whereas the work of a lot of guys his age come across as nerdy (Mo Wax et al), his productions never overlook two factors:
danceability and fun. The west london producer first came about in the late eighties with Depth Charge _ nutty kung-fu, porn, footy samples over breakbeats _ and has since explored the confines of vintage electro with Octagon Man. However his Alexanders Dark Band project is something else altogether. Going back to samples and classic breaks the technology obsessive has crafted a really exciting third album of stoopid, demented, druggy tales of the unexpected, abstract yet warm and human. In many ways ‘Dobutsu Bancho’ delivers what a hyped-up band like Future Sounds Of London should have sounded like, funky ambient, if they had concentrated on making music instead of spending all their advance money on flash cars and stimulants. No endlessly dull 4/4 beats or over-recycled progressive-tech house ideas here but merely fantastic grooves, mental funky programming, surprising structures & musical developments: hip-hop gone psychedelic with a naughty childish slant (think a schizo, loony ‘Three Feet High And Rising’). In a similar league to the genius of LFO_s Mark Bell (only ‘blackier’ and groovier), Saul Kane has an unquestionable talent for keeping things fresh and interesting _ different from anybody else yet highly entertaining. Not bad for a guy that never even lights up a spliff.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: JERRY BOUTHIER