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Von D (aka Jérôme Meyer) may be based in Paris but that hasn’t stop him from getting out there to collaborat on the album with folks like globe trotters Foreign Beggars, ShyFX’s vocalist David Boomah (Rodigan’s a big fan of Shy FX!), Phephe, Riya & Mr. Lager.

And if you come from a heritage of King Tubby and Serge Gainsborg drenched banlieue with Photek on his jungle system, Von D is the embodiment of the distant daydream.

By coincidence, I fell upon some old Fabio cassettes taped from his Radio 1 show about 2003 vintage the other day and this album has a sort of that period buzz about it but with the modern day production that has caught the attention of dubstep Don, Skream, DMC World Champion DJ Craze, Soul Jazz Records (who included a Von D track on their dubstep compilation Steppas’ Delight 2 a couple of years ago) and Radio 1’s Gilles Peterson (with a track on the Brownswood Electr*c compilation).

Talkin’ of Brownswodd, Von D produced ‘Watching You’ with Brownswood’s Simbad (last seen at the Record Store Day pop-up shop, see HERE) so expect some upbeat soulstep with Riya on vocals.

And if you’re missing Peterson/Talkin’ Loud era Roni Size, try the jazzy ‘ASAP’ mid-paced dnb with piano roll and vibes with dose of space dub; it’s mixtape heaven. And space is a reoccurring theme as next up is ‘Star’ (you can see this one getting a heavyweight dubstep makeover at some stage) and before that there’s the bouncy beat space out of ‘From Jupiter To Mars’.

And if you like Mr. Scruff’s trouser wobbles, ‘Liquid’ as the added bonus of some Miles type trumpet and you could be easily mistaken to think this should be on Ninja Tune. Talking of Ninja Tune (Toddla T, Roots Manuva and the like), Foreign Beggars (watch out for their new single with Vato Gonzalez ‘Badman Riddim) are on message with ‘Maximum Boot’ to mix me label metaphors, this could have been on Invasion Of The Mysteron Killer Sounds.

And if you like the light of Phephe’s vocals mixed up with the dark low end of Mr. Lager ‘You’re My’ is a stand out track.

It’s hard to keep up the quality over a whole album that contains 15 tracks so little surprise to say that ‘Push It’ is a little tired in comparison but it’s not long before another of Von D’s unaccompanied tracks, ‘EVon’ gets us on the up again.

Not heard of Moxy Phinx before (erm..sounds a bit STD like?) but you’d like to get her in a ‘Booboodoo’ as she “I screams” in the heat; its the odd Princess Superstar moment; whilst vocalists Vicky Harrison, Riya and Phephe are very sexy.

I’m sure Von D would say that he loves all types of music, the opening track ‘Love Music’ (with Phephe) being a bit of a clue (and arguably the best track on the album - why does it sound familiar?) and the last track, ‘Set Me Free’ (once again with Phephe on vocals), Boka Records have given him the freedom to show what he’s got and all the style that he loves which he interprets in his own way. Obviously a clever bloke and worth loads of attention.

Von D - Daydreaming 30 minute
mix

Reviewed: Von D - Daydreaming (Boka Records) Cat. No. BOKACD001 Release date: 27th June 2011
Tracklisting:
1. Love Music feat. Phephe (4:45)
2. Watching You with Simbad & featuring Riya (6:05)
3. You’re The One feat. Phephe (4:42)
4. From Jupiter To Mars feat. Lakaye Jolie (4:57)
5. ASAP (4:50)
6. Star feat David Boomha (3:51)
7. You’re My with Mr. Lager and feat. Phephe (5:49)
8. Liquid (3:45)
9. Maximum Boot feat. Foreign Beggars & Spyda (4:27)
10. Push It feat. Alyz Be (6:06)
11. EVon (5:40)
12. Booboodoo feat. Moxy Phinx (3:14)
13. Sight feat. Vicky Harrison (2:40)
14. One Day feat. Riya (4:41)
15. Set Me Free feat. Phephe (4:44)

Links:
Faceboook.com/vondmusic
Soundcloud.com/vond
Facebook.com/bokarecords
Soundcloud.com/boka
bokarecords.co.uk
djcraze.com
foreignbeggars.com
www.myspace.com/riyamusicpage
www.myspace.com/djsimbad