(Ninja Tune/Inertia)

A1: Sunday Séance (Album version) 5.28
A2: Sunday Séance (Loka Remix) 6.13
B1: Jet Son (feat. Aesop Rock & Camu Tao) 4.09
B2: Jet Son (Instrumental) 4.09

NYC-based instrumental hiphop producer Blockhead first emerged into the wider consciousness as the beatmaker behind Aesop Rock’s classic ‘Labor Days’ album, this sterling reputation being built upon further with the recent release of Blockhead’s debut artist album ‘Music By Cavelight’ on the always forward-thinking Ninja Tune label. In the meantime, he’s also somehow found time to compile an album of beats entitled ‘Blockhead’s Broke Beats’ while at the same time contributing to Def Jux’s recent hiphop / comedy hybrid album ‘Party Fun Action Committee.’ ‘Sunday Séance’ is the second single to be released off ‘Music By Cavelight’, and follows in the wake of previous 12” ‘Insomniacs Olympics’ (released late 2003).

On the A-side of this 12”, the original album version of ‘Sunday Séance’ opens with what sounds like slightly distorted piano, saturating and bleeding out of the speaker as though it was lifted off old vinyl, before dropping down a chunky downtempo hiphop breakbeat and layering stabs of soul brass and pitched-up vocals over it. There are some very effective and subtle synths that trickle through the mix, and also great use of sampled harmonica that lends ‘Sunday Séance’ a blusey edge that sits perfectly with its epic sense of wide-eyed melancholy. However, my only slight observation (rather than perhaps a ‘criticism’ per se) is that it sounds extremely close to DJ Shadow – in fact, if you played this to someone and told them that it was a new Shadow track, if they’d didn’t know better they’d most likely believe you. At this point, it’s important to note that Blockhead has responded to this comparison several times in his online blog in slightly heated fashion, saying that while he likes Shadow, he doesn’t own his records or count him as a primary influence. A fair point, but upon even an initial listen the comparison will likely spring to mind for many – let’s face it, there are many worse comparisons than Shadow, and this is stirringly evocative downtempo stuff.

There’s also a reworking of ‘Sunday Séance’ here by recent Ninja Tunes signings Loka that immediately shows why they’ve been one of the most-touted names to watch on the label’s roster. Slowly washing in with a lush unfurling of strings, it merges crashing live drums with spiralling keyboards, grungy sampled guitar, all the while building up around a vast sense of orchestrated grandeur that’s simply jaw-dropping – this is one of the best tracks that the Ninjas have committed to vinyl this year in my opinion. On the flip, Blockhead slightly reworks album track ‘Jet Son’ while also roping in the verbiage of Aesop Rock and fellow Def Jux artist Camu Tao to add vocal life to this previously instrumental track. With Tao’s smooth ragga / soul vocal nicely offsetting Aesop’s dense staccato lyrical flow, Blockhead places a hefty crashing drum break beneath some fluid jazz horn samples and bouncing crunk bass that works perfectly around the swelling synths and lyrical urban paranoia. There’s also an instrumental version included here just waiting to be mashed up with the vocal of your choice.

Another excellent 12” from Blockhead, with the stunning Loka remix making it worth grabbing this vinyl alone in my opinion. Fans of DJ Shadow, RJD2 and Ninja cohort Diplo are sure to devour this eagerly and while comparisons to the aforementioned artists are likely to be inescapable to many, the sheer quality on show here is what really counts. Highly recommended.

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