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- CD
(!K7 Records/Inertia)
This new album comes all the way from the UK from artist Gerald Simpson whose production monikier is A Guy Called Gerald. The album features his latest single ‘First Try’, as well as vocal contributions from Ursula Rucker and Finley Quaye. Simpson first album release was a drum and bass album called ‘Black Secret Technology’ released in 1995, this was followed by another artist album called ‘Essence’. Prior to these releases he also produced a number of singles which achieved recognition in the acid house scene throughout the eighties. Having recently moved to Berlin, Simpson recorded a majority of the album in his home in Berlin. The general sound is one that delves into ambient freestyle and if one dominant element must be described as the dominant sound here, then it is the atmospheres in a majority of these tracks.
The album kicks off with the opening tune American Cars which features some great panned fx and spoken word throughout as a nice ambient intro to the album. This track also really sets the tone for what to expect throughout the album as a majority of the tracks have this chilled ambient vibe that focuses on the soundscape rather than in your face lead hooks and sounds. Millenium Sanhedrin (featuring Ursula Rucker) is another track done in the style of the opening number. Here we have some more spoken word vocals that hit up some political and social commentary amongst a soft rolling brush jazz beat in the background amongst minimal sounds and effects.
Other tracks such as To Love and Strangest Changes (featuring Finley Quaye) pick up the pace a little by getting into a more concrete beat and nice punchy bass squeals, the latter of these bringing in some tribal elements and funky guitar cuts. The album also features a number of tracks that focus on ambient textures and backgrounds such as Call For Prayer which has a distant Gregorian chant style vocal over some simple melodies set nicely into the sound scape. First Try is one of the only tracks to drop into a 4×4 beat and nice sub bass sounds but unfortunately doesn’t really build to anything significant so this one still falls under the ambient category.
The commercially available album also comes with a video about A Guy Called Gerald so make sure to check out this feature if you buy this album. This video features a 16 minute video combining the 1990 Granada Madchester documentary (featuring contributions from Darren Partington from 808 State and Derrick May), and the 2000 Channel 4 ‘Profiles’ documentary on Gerald (featuring contributions from LTJ Bukem, DJ Krust, 4 Hero, Louise Rhodes, as well as Gerald himself). This does not appear on the final album.
Overall, the album isn’t really as meaty as I thought it was going to be and although it is full of nice ambient sound scapes that are very relaxing to listen to it doesn’t really present any mesmerising or memorable tunes. The general vibe can be described as quiet minimal and so if you enjoy you music floating around in the background rather than slamming you against the wall then this one is for you.
