DJ Alex Corton – Good Looking Records

Good Looking Records

Intersperse / Nu Moon / Sonic Generation / Synchronicity – Enorasis / Submergency / So Far / Foot Prints 

2002

It’s been about 10 weeks now, that we began this journey into one of the most prolific and legendary labels in the world of jungle and drum and bass. Good Looking Records was nearing the mat outside the doorstep of its decade of releases and today marks the landmark 50th 12” single release for the label. 

   We have plenty of other releases to review from the EP series and then the artist and Log Prog album side of things, plus a couple of other projects that Good Looking served up. Let’s say that there are a lot more on the way. 

   The artwork took a new direction with this release. The image became more of a side car to the GLR logo on the front and the LGR logo on the back. The record labels also got a vintage update with a classic line splitting the label and catalogue number, from the tracks and artist details. Nick Purser was back on duty for this one, overlapping images with a variety of exposures. 

  My copy has “For Promo Use Only. Not For Resale” stickers on the outside (over the barcode) and an SRD Promo sticker just inside the outer sleeve. This is not the promo though. Not sure what that was about? 

    Today, we feature two artists who we have mentioned plenty of praise for, Intersperse on Side A, and Nu Moon on Side AA. Tomorrow we will focus on a couple of artists who make their debut on Good Looking. One artist following three super Looking Good Releases and one by a couple of guys that came and went quicker than the Man United’s Caribou cup chances this year. 

   Side A has another voyage of velveteen value, from the Intersperse boys. ‘Enorasis’ floats across the breadth of sky like a satellite on its set course, bringing the fluid and mesmerizing atmospheres closer. As we soar higher with the utopian pads and dynamic and simple, stepping beat, every ounce of virtue is expelled like a squeezed sponge. The little vocal snippets hold a brief, but might effective presence. Tracks like this soak in a rare appreciation these days. Fresh, lucid and fucking beautifully produced. Once you’ve played this you’ll have reframed the day and be moving forward in a totally different mindset. 

   On Side AA, we get another of those breathtaking tunes from Nu Moon. ‘Submergency’ sprints down the post-storm high street, weaving around the puddles and pools, catching the glimpses of white and red lights on the road and shadows of stooped walkers with umbrellas still aloft. This is the age of a wave of electronic atmospherics that captured a future, a liveliness and a jazz infusion that seemed to tame the tempos. The breakdown in this reminds me a little of some of BT’s early work. Nu Moon peel off the layers of their creation and sweep them into a vat of comfort, marinading the listener with a taste of pure sweetness. Top work yet again!

Tomorrow we move onto the second disc. Meanwhile, my blog has collected each Good Looking Record so far from the 12” singles on the label. I hope you get a chance to revisit the full GLR catalogue on this blog up to this point, and beyond!