(Invada/Inertia)

West Aussie beat maestro Fdel has been bustin’ the Perth scene for some time with his infectious swag of funky tunes and turntable antics. His name has appeared remixing the likes of the Resin Dogs and on production duties with Downsyde on their hit single El Questro. Audio Fdelity is his long awaited debut album of solo production work.

Take a peak at the shout outs on the inner sleeve and you’ll get an idea of the sounds to expect. With friends of similar minds, upon listening the album through it’s no surprise to see mention of Resin Dogs, Katalyst, Rhiibosome and Downsyde. The latter of whom feature prominently with their guest appearance on the track Dusty Fingers, whilst Downsyde DJ (also Fdel’s manager) Armee appears on most tracks on scratching duties.

Fdel’s reputation as a sample junky shines through as he manages to deftly construct eleven tunes using a myriad of samples of wide ranging influences. With a backbone of freely flowing funky beats, Fdel uses everything from vocal snippets to instrumental melodies to build his tracks. The enjoyable aspect of the album in this regard is that the samples are far from obvious or simplistic, demonstrating a keen ear and highlighting his musicphile tendencies.

For the most part the album is a fun and enjoyable listen with tracks like Rocksteady, Get Up On Ya Feet and Shake Ya Pants giving it a heavy leaning towards the funky side of hip hop. They’re reflective of Fdel’s DJing style where he is known for getting any party cranking. However it’s not all catchy hooks and table dancing antics and through tracks like Instrumental Proficiency and Bring It On he lets mellower influences show through with more sublime and downbeat samples taking precedence.

For the past few years Fdel has been winning fans mostly through his DJing and supporting role on production work. Audio Fdelity will hopefully change this and open up his appeal to a wider audience who have also enabled similar style acts such as Dynamo Productions and Katalyst to enjoy healthy support. Definitely worth checking out.