DJ Alex Corton – Vinyl Reviews

Good Looking Records

Nookie – Oceanic EP – Side A / B

2001

The adventure propels us forward into the world of Gavin Chueng again today, with his second EP in this Good Looking Records series. Nookie was burning up the atmospherics around this time, taking those years of experience and developing that quintessential vibe. 

    Having unleashed on labels such as Daddy Armshouse, Symphony Sounds, Reinforced, Moving Shadow (where he also went by his Cloud Nine guise), and Urban Flavour, plus the fountain of remixes under his belt, Nookie has this way of extracting a sound that seems to barnacle itself inside your head. The music that he makes leaves its impression, creating this free flowing access to memory recall of his work, like no other. I can already hear two of the tracks from this EP playing in my head right now. They were just hanging out in my mind and now look, here they are, following the sleeve being pulled out the cover, triggering a response that conjures up those addictive and transporting memories. 

  Nookie’s ‘Oceanic EP’ holds a few real treasures on here. With two of the four tracks being featured on Bukem & Conrad’s ‘Progression Sessions 6’ and another version of a track from Logical Progression Level 4. It was a shame that the ‘First Light EP’ fell between the fifth and sixth Prog Sessions volumes, as I feel the tunes on there were less acknowledged. Still, we have this one today to enjoy. 

   My copy is No 001744 out of the alleged 3000 editions of limited production. I know it’s just a number, but if you are like me and take pride in the ownership, it has a small amount of meaning. Most of my tunes though, don’t need a number. 

    Artwork duties fall to Gareth Jones for this stylish gatefold. The sense of visions through the eyes of the machines rollout the blueprints of engineering. The back cover transports you through the aqua terrains and dreams, unifying the stillness of the oceans, and the rhythms of the music. 

   Profile pictures of Gavin with those cyborg stances and adorned shades, bring that futuristic, scientific dose of the musics foundations on the EP. He’s on the mission to make your mind wander. You enter into a calculated and chemically entranced voyage into the spectral systems, which the artwork compliments together with the tunes, to a tee. The blend of sound engineering and the future machines, is grasped. The floor is yours again Gareth. I’ll transfer any info into the blog, that you add. Cheers mate! 

   We kick off this EP with a belter of a track that was a classic inclusion as the intro on Bukem and Conrad’s Progression Sessions 6, (Live from America). ‘Continental Drift’ ploughs you into the convection currents that circle on the underside of our land, shifting the scab like, wafer thin crusts that sit on the surface of Earth. The intro is one of those shorter looped collections of deep, whirling pads, synths lit up like a Griswolds house, pushing its way through your head with each repetition. Nookie unleashes a hook that you could listen to for days. The beats carry you through the backstreets of the underworld while the bass keeps the smoke filled doorways, in the shadows. ‘Continental Drift’ is a rock hard diamond of the music at this time. Nookie was fucking blowing things up, like always. 

   Starting an EP on such a top shelf track, sets the standard. ‘Our Love’ is probably the one on here I don’t think springs out at me off the top of my head. It’s like I’ve just brought a new tune then isn’t it? Cool! ‘Our Love’ takes this lounging attitude and hands it a solar facing deck chair and a cocktail, to settle into its electric, future jazz mode. The little acid drops in the track and that groove filled bass guitar steal the show here. A vocal chirps in with “Our Love” here and there. I do really love that little chime loop too that has this air of someone sprinkling a salt of musical seasoning in, and then realizing there’s a few grains left in you hand, so you just brush the last few in for its crescendo. 

    Nookie’s catchy, funky and gifted talents are yet again on hand here. 

  The following record is up for review tomorrow. Until then, my blog has some Good Looking reviews if you care to step back into the last six months of my work on this label.