(Tru Thoughts/Creative Vibes)

So what would you play at your funeral? Would it be an upbeat funky celebration of your life? A dark twisted summation of your demise? Or perhaps draw a little from both columns. Well rather than leave it up to somebody else Nostalgia 77 has made his debut long player with the future in mind.

This album has its feet well and truly planted in the chill out sector, and unfortunately for me at times crosses the line into the music-to-sleep-to variety, as there just doesn’t seem to be enough going on to hold the listeners interest.

One thing is for certain, Nostalgia 77 is mad for an electronic bleep, a piano key and a weird sample, as right throughout this release he slides these in at moments where you least expect them, at times bringing life to a well constructed track and at times jerking me back from the point of sleep. Now don’t get me wrong it isn’t all bad, and when he puts it together it works well from the heavy piano keys, rolling bass and chilled sax and jazz influences of Processional & The Conventicle, to the almost orchestral vibe of Rain Walk, these tracks are beautifully assembled. Even his jazz influenced vibes on Only Hush and The Beginning work quite well, even if they are a little underdone – however they are far from horrible or boring.

Which brings me to the remainder of the album… Now, I can see exactly where the artist was coming from, looking to create a sparse soundscape built around some well placed instruments, but on tracks such as The Mirror or The Gates Parts 1&2 I had the distinct feeling I was in an elevator. The tracks are very down tempo and very sparsely put together, a style that dominates the whole second half of the album. The formula seems to be use a very sparse drum beat, perhaps chuck in some off kilter piano keys and wind up some strings once every couple of minutes. For me it just wasn’t enough, and it had my mind wandering, contemplating what I would have at my funeral, i can promise you it would not be as slumber-inducing as this. That may be a touch harsh, it probably won’t put you to sleep, but it would work well as background music at a dinner party if you misplace your Jazz CDs.

Overall I would describe it as a disappointing debut as Nostalgia 77 is clearly talented, and when he develops and builds his tracks, ala Rain Walk, they become quite brilliant musically, but for me too much filler not enough killer.