DJ Alex Corton – Good Looking Records

Good Looking Records

LTJ Bukem / MC Conrad & DJ Furney – Switch / Drum Tools

2008

This week has flown by, and we get to Friday in style, with a very impressive 12” release today, from the first one on GLR from 2008. Not only do we have the mastermind of all things tranquil, atmospheric and the labels innovator, LTJ Bukem on one side, we also have our first release by a Mr. James Fearnside who around this time was getting a lot of air time and support from Danny Bukem. 

   As if that wasn’t enough, MC Conrad was in the studio again and working with Furney on Side AA. It was tunes like this, that took away the mic and showcased just how fucking good Conrad was in the studio. Don’t forget he had releases on Ascendant Grooves, Looking Good and then his own ‘Logical Progression a Level 4’ out on Good Looking. One thing was certain. He was a musician of many talents. 

    Side A has the Bukem tonic, running rings round, ju..just like Sonic…you know the drill. Bukem had been quiet since his Journey Inwards album in 2000, some seven years prior, at least on a drum and bass tip. I think it was around this time it was not only beginning to feel that Bukem was not actually working on another album, (even though it was hinted at on the sleeve of this release), more so that he was earning more money touring as a DJ than producing. Understandably, and for the far flung future, his name will continue to keep that dough flowing in, when he steps behind the platforms of DJing. 

   ‘Switch’ is for me, one of Bukem’s best post 2000 tunes. The jazz-swing orientated veil that you view through signifies this modern day twist on the fence that split the weight of those golden 90s days and the newer age of the music. Bukem composed this magical transportation across jagged peaks and flatlands all with a live and metronomic skeleton of sound, linking it all together. Volumes of double bass, brush stroked snares and clinical beats, while the groove spreads like a raging virus inside. This is Bukem taking his hypnotic groove into overdrive. The vocal “must come through..put you down” the little trumpet bursts and the round of applause, congregate into this room of brilliance. The breakdown slides open the curtains for a wash of warmth. “I want you baby” and the fading back into the main section, return you into the twists and turns of the real deal. This is a brilliant piece of music. It would have been a great way to kick off a new album but alas..

     Side AA is one of those tracks that stands out as a very unique piece of work. If you heard it and had it to give it a name, you may well have ‘Drum Tools’ enter your train of thought. Luckily for us, it was named as such. If Joe Bloggs came up to you on the street and  said “the whole track is just a drum workout”, you may think…hold on. A tune with just beats? Mmmm..anyone could make that! So what is it about this track that makes it so fucking brilliant? 

   Conrad & Furney slammed down something truly incredible here. It’s catchy, fun, incredibly addictive and holds such a unique and well thought out idea that clicks. Those beats send all the feels out. The little timpani bongos are the icing on the cake too. “We better go on..I think he really knows his stuff..what kind of stuff? I don’t know exactly, but we think it’s worth finding out” I wonder where that’s taken from? 

   There are small brass bursts on this one too. Rough beats and they just roll and roll. This plate has two very different tunes, and it was releases like this that rewired and pushed forward the label, into a territory that kept the wick lit and the adrenaline pumping along. The atmospheric sound was a different gravy now. 

Have a good weekend, the Good Looking Records journey continues next week. Big up all!