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December, 6,
2006

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Fdel - AudioFdelity

Rooted in the old school but bursting with fresh energy, Perth’s faithful beatmonger serves up eleven lively helpings of the kind of funky breaks we all love to get down to, cementing his position as champion of Australia’s ‘sampling renaissance’ — but could it be even better?

fdel - audiofdelity

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With a style that has enough savvy to satisfy the clubgoers but an authentic enough feel to win over the DJs, AudioFdelity showcases a dextrously eclectic yet consistently slick array of party rhythms, tracing a reverent trail through various styles of funk, breaks and hip hop.

Every convention of the genre is hit straight on the head — bouncy basslines, cheeky horn stabs, intermittent soul and rap vocal samples — it manages (admirably) to be classic without being clichéd. DJ ARMEE’s scratching is skilful but it does not take centre stage, and herein, perhaps, lies the release’s one weakness.

It is all well produced and likeably listenable, but there’s nothing unique enough about it to make it memorable — some producers are understandably reluctant to let the rampant ego of a vocalist trample their beloved beats, but you get the feeling that if this music had some kind of focal point, it could be either a credible modern funk album or a successful pop album. Whack Girls Aloud on there and this dude could make some serious money.

That said, ‘Dusty Fingers’, the one track which does feature vocalists (Aussie rap outfit Downsyde), is probably the weakest song here, veering as it does into that frivolous blend of grand big-band samples and almost-too-crisp drumbeats so popularised by M.O.P.

The highlights are those tracks which hark back to New York hip hop’s mid-nineties golden age: ‘A Fuller Culture’ could easily have sprung from the bursting sample-banks of a Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and listening to ‘Bring It On’, you almost expect to hear The Pharcyde jumping in and insulting someone’s momma. Hint hint.



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