RJ Wheaton

The debut album from US hip-hop producer Diplo is just out on Ninja Tune’s Big Dada imprint. There are plenty of comparisons to DJ Shadow flying around, mostly because of big mellow soundpieces like “Summer’s Gonna Hurt You”. Like Shadow’s Endtroducing…, it relies on full, rounded organ riffs, which lend a thick and syrupy feel to even the most frenetic breakbeats. But there’s also an obvious Timbaland influence, with the drum programming shimmying along in crisp little packets. “Indian Thick Jawns” recalls Timbaland’s recent production for Bubba Sparxxx, and features Freestyle Fellowship’s P.E.A.C.E.

“Into The Sun” features Martina Topley-Bird; the production track is played entirely in reverse, and teases out the contrast between intimacy and distance that made her early collaborations with Tricky so entrancing. There’s some very good stuff here.

The three tracks at BBC’s always-worthwhile Collective site don’t really do the album justice, but there is a brief interview there. Aurgasm has an excellent sample of the album. Alternatively, of course, there’s audio clips of the whole thing at Big Dada.

Diplo, Florida
(Big Dada, 2004)

Continuing this week’s Bristol theme: Dynamo Productions have a remix album coming out. Dynamo Productions are Andy Smith, Portishead’s DJ, and Scott Hendy (a.k.a. Boca 45), formerly of Purple Penguin. Both Bristol alumni. Their debut LP, Analogue, was released last year on Australia’s Invada Records.

Dynamo’s Showtime EPs contained some fine Lessons-style cut-up hip-hop. A few of these tracks are on Analogue, which is grounded in a crisp and funky old-school feel. But there’s an unusually rich density to it. There’s also the hypnotically languid melange of Al Green samples on “Airwaves”, and the tone of confident loss that pervades “We’re Through”. It’s classy stuff. Audio samples here.

Get It Together is a collection of remixes of Analogue tracks.  It’s been available in Australia since the end of August, and it becomes available elsewhere next Monday. Invada is the label established by Ashley Anderson (a.k.a. Katalyst), engineer Fraser Stuart, and Portishead’s Geoff Barrow. Remixers predictably include Katalyst and The Jimi Entley Sound — which is yet another Geoff Barrow pseudonym.

Invada releases are distributed by Inertia Music in the UK. They have a shop.

Dynamo Productions, Analogue
(Invada/Inertia, 2003)

Dynamo Productions, Get It Together
(Invada/Inertia, 2004)

As noted here, Earthling’s long-awaited second album has been released on the French Discograph label. The album was recorded in 1997 but went unissued after they were dropped by EMI.

There are audio clips at Amazon.fr, which along with Soul Seduction appears to be one of the few places at which it is currently available.

There is also a 12” of the first single, Saturated, which features remixes by Kid Loco and Portishead’s Geoff Barrow (under the pseudonym D.R.U.N.K.).

The sleeve design looks rather like Rjd2’s Since We Last Spoke, no?

Earthling, Humandust
(Discograph, 2004)