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Being championed by IDJ and DJ Mag, King Roc is going full on in the nu-Baleraics with dreamscape electronic chilled out ‘Chapters’ on an album full of sweeping strings and atmospheric piano al a Lars Bartkuhn but with wicked drums and more twists and turns than a Ian Rankin novel.

King Roc (aka Martin Dawson) starts the album with a classic beginning (called ‘The Beginning’) and goes through the ‘chapters’ until he gets to ‘The End’. The naming of those two tracks apart, this is a album full of imagination that fans will have seen develop over the past couple of years with 12” releases on his own label, Mutual Society.

That’s said, this isn’t work isn’t easy to pigeon hole as tech, deep, minimal house as there’s more of a cinematic element going from minimal glitchy with ambient leanings before upping the pace (‘Random Chances’) to Peter Bjorn And John style whistling (‘The Growing Phase’) to ‘Tube Whistle’ that’s a pick me up for train fans as it races around the Circle Line but there’s a signal delay in the middle that holds up momentum a bit; synth and piano give it the cinematic feel whilst ‘Flow’ is the gentle trip back into the engine shed.

This is a fantastic album and whilst he also makes quality deep house with Giles Smith as one half of the Two Armadillos (as in ‘Warriors’ on Secretsundaze : Volume 1) even with the rockin’ ‘DiscoVery #1’ (that squeezes in Manc influences such as Buzzcocks, Joy Division and New Order - or should we just settle with NEU!), as you can tell from this clever title, there’s a dance floor mentality to it - rock’n’bass house? ‘Melon Koly Flower’ is a return to this area with a d’n’b ethic!

Another big tune is ‘Everything From Nothing’ but this is more of a album in the whole than any one track; not in that worn ‘journey’ sense as ‘DiscoVery #1’ is sandwiched between ‘Flow’ and the one vocal track, the slightly dubby ‘Beautiful But Weird’.

Beautiful but weird sums this album up and you’ll be straight back to the beginning after the end; love it lots and what a vid!

King Roc - “The Beginning” (Video by Drunk Park & Joe Hamilton) from Drunk Park on Vimeo.

Reviewed: King Roc - Chapters (Process Recordings) Catalog#: Release date: 23rd March 2009
Tracklisting:
1 The Beginning (7:37)
2 Random Chances (8:49)
3 Lunar People (6:09)
4 The Growing Phrase (6:18)
5 Phidias Gold (6:22)
6 A Pocket Full Of Prose (6:16)
7 Tube Whistle (1:12)
8 Everything From Nothing (8:26)
9 Flow (6:19)
10 DiscoVery #1 (5:19)
11 Beautiful But Weird (7:50)
12 Melon Koly Flower (5:36)
13. The End (3:06)

Links:
www.kingroc.co.uk
www.myspace.com/mutualsocietymusic
www.mutualsocietymusic.com
www.myspace.com/processrecordings
www.myspace.com/thetwoarmadillos
Gilles Peterson :: 26th February 2009 :: Tony Allen & The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble Ft. Natty - Afro Beat Disco
Lars Bartkuhn - Goodbye Dancing Hello God (Alternative Version) (Sonar Kollektiv)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/gillespeterson/tracklistingarchive.shtml?20090226
www.ianrankin.net