(Compost/Creative Vibes)

David Muallem is a 26 y.o DJ from Munich and is the recent addition to the Compost family. For his debut EP he has assembled a whose who on the German Electro/New Soul scene including Lyrics Born and the excellent multi instrumentalist Shawn Lee (of ping-pong orchestra fame).

The all-star lineup has resulted in an almost impossible to define album, one that swings effortlessly between hip-hop, soul funk and electro. One minute there could Prince like arpeggios , the next minute you feel like your in a grime club in London. It is much more confusing when your cd player is stuck on random, but I was equally as perplexed when I first started listening to this cd a week earlier.

Equally as perplexing is the range of production elements which are being used to create some of the pieces. Some loving (featuring soul singer Martine Girault) is a subtle blend of instrumental reggae and soul complemented beautifully by Girault’s sexy, Smokey vocals. Where as Cheerleader (with Shawn Lee)  sounds like Beck riding a mechanical bull with Prince and Cee Lo riding on the back. The songs (although hugely diverse on a track by track basis) often came across as a bit bland for my taste. Sweat (Featuring Audrey) has such a fantastic percussion foundation and vocal delivery, but is spoilt by the over bearing bass line, that I just found annoying.

Mualllem’s strengths however lay solidly in his Hip-Hop and Soul tracks. Be about it (featuring Wordsmith, who also features on Having fun with it) seems like a perfect match for Mullamen, not letting his rhymes overshadow the production. The same goes for My Life (featuring Amazon) another groovy Prince inspired song with great live production.

That’s not to say that some of the more danceable numbers didn’t have their moments. One of my favorite tracks, was the very chilled out Shanti dance, with it’s lovely lush strings pulsing bass and gorgeous disco beats, which reminded me of the stuff Crazy penis are doing with live house music. Down 2004 is probably the most dance friendly track on the album, with minimal pulsing synths that pretty much keeps the same tempo throughout the entirety of the song.

For a debut album Muallhem has shown a great deal of courage diversifying the way that he did. This at times proved successful, depending on who he collaborated with. Artists like Shawn Lee, Marine Girault and Wordsmith helped showed what potential Muallem could have as a collaborative artist. Unfortunately solo tracks don’t fair as well. It’s not that it’s bad production, everything’s in the right place,  it’s just that they don’t really go anywhere.

It’s possible that in a few years time Muallem will find his own distinctive sound, but for the meantime, there was nothing on this album that truly grabbed me.