2000 Black レコード& CD

Review: Less than 10 months have passed since the release of Matt Lord and Dennis 'Dego' McFarland's first collaborative album, but the long-serving duo have already readied album number two. The pair have been working together on-and-off for years and are clearly kindred spirits, at least musically. There's a warmth, looseness and pleasingly effortless feel about much of the material on show, which - like much 2000 Black crew material of recent years - adds luscious synthesizer and electric piano motifs to rubbery bass guitar parts and crunchy beats. It's naturally rooted in broken beat, but rhythmically also pays homage to jazz-funk, hip-hop, Azymuth-esque jazz fusion and boogie. It also includes an excellent, acid-flecked collaboration with mutual friend (and fellow bruk stalwart) Domu.

Review: Kaidi Tatham back on 2000BLACK needs little explanation really, does it? Anyone who takes broken beat and neo soul seriously should already be slipping this on in their cart, but for the uninitiated this is one of the grandmasters of the sound in full flight. 'Galaxy' is a beautiful, uplifting soul-boogie jam with a stunning vocal turn from Lola Violet, and it comes in two different twists depending on the energy you need to bring to your set - for us the 'Uptempo Mix' is a perfect shot of joy in the arm. 'A Message From Above' cools things down with gorgeous keys, a characteristically snagging beat and sultry horns, and 'Ergonomic Structures' slinks into the sweetest of downtempo funks that'll have you head nodding hard and keeping you chill all in the same beat.