DJ Alex Corton – Vinyl Reviews

Good Looking Records

Seba – Valley Of The Moomins / Car Crash

1998

Seba had already been snapped up by GLR following his collaboration with Stefan Soderman, Lotek, on LGR 005 in 1996, with ‘Sonic Winds / So Long’. Although Bukem mentions in one of his Kiss FM shows that they are “straight out of Germany”, they are of course Swedish. Seba went solo after that and had his 1997 release ‘Connected’ on LGR 014. Today’s release was Seba’s first on Good Looking Records, and while ‘Car Crash’ is his own work, he did join forces again with Lotek for the A Side, ‘Valley Of The Moomins’ and the technical brilliance of the work is soaring with both tracks. 

   I do not have the main release sleeve or a promo sleeve for this one. I’ve had a good cry about it though, and once you’ve heard the tunes, you don’t really care if it comes in a Poundstretcher bag covered in cabbage (don’t try that though). What I do have though, is the two inlay sheets that came with it, which I’d have thought would be with the promo. I put the pictures up (below), of the promotion sheet and the reaction sheet that came with it too. 

You may already have realized how much of a fan of Seba’s I am. His work has always been something that not only sounds impressive but can vary from the calming and dreamy to the downright nasty and explosive. The range of work is vast and his involvement with drum and bass (and of course his house/deep house, as Forme), is consistently being inspired by a range of people and places that he gains ideas and influences from. We did dive into his work earlier on 720, Arctic Music, Combination, Blu Mar Ten, and Beverage, with many more still to encounter. Seba is one of the most consistent and masterful producers over the last 30 years. A big respect goes out to him and long may the music keep flowing. 

   Side A lowers you into the mysterious world of the Finnish based characters called The Moomins. This track places you deep within the echoing valley where the strange and soothing sounds of the natural habitat of these creatures, has them communicating across the landscape where you are catching snippets of another world. ‘Valley Of The Moomins’ is a tune that turned GLR on its head with the sound, and this particular release from Seba & Lotek, contains something that opened a door, a gateway, onto the penthouse level of music. There’s suspense, calming, joy, and a hint of fear in this track, with its crystal beats, very strolling bass, and the layers of pads and springs of the voices that enter, fade and loop within earshot of your settlement in the cold northern territories of fermentation. Seba & Lotek deliver a luring, spiritual and nerve edged magic to us with this track. Hearing it loud right now it is so fucking incredibly creative. You cannot go wrong with this excellent piece of music. Brilliant!

   Side AA will always spiral my mind back to MOS in what must have been 1998, to the Log Prog (Or Prog Sessions) where a group of us travelled up to London and we had the joy of hearing Bukem, Tayla, Seba and MC Conrad (R.I.P) laying down the real deal. This track came on and I remember there was this spark of life in the crowd that just lit when the beats in ‘Car Crash’ came in, and then when the bass dropped too. Holy fucking god. The sound system in Ministry Of Sound was always a seriously impressive rig and this tune filled the air with so much fury & intensity I felt like my rib cage was being sucked out my chest. This tune rattles along as a reminder that Seba can slide the amens and live sounding bass together with maximum effect. The subtle panning of the breaks, the eerie and dangerous sounds that encroach then retreat, all hurl this giant fireball of risk at you, where you get the burns of the fury but the cooling ice of stillness cementing things together. 

    That’s the week complete and a fantastic release to end it with. More Good Looking Records coming your way, as we hit the next five in the catalogue, in a weeks time. I’m taking a break, like a Kit Kat that’s long overdue a split. Have a good weekend and a great week, see you soon.

Enjoy the tunes!