Graham gave me this CD the other day, given to him by a mate of a mate. I'm enjoying it and feel somehow obligated to spread the good word, like in the old days when I'd review CDs for BMA and sometimes get to keep one.
One of the cool ideas I've learned from reading-up on Brian Eno is that, at the outset of any project, you should look at your constraints or create some to adopt as boundaries for creative work. Like it helps contain focus and shape ideas.
Blair Joscelyne's "1978" is sort of a concept album. He's chosen the year of his birth and relates in the booklet how it's also the year a Realistic keyboard (designed by Moog) was produced and this led him to settle on seeking instruments, mastering limiters and even a graphic designer (from, well, 1977) as part of the constraint to shape his album.
It's a very funky album, I can hear Ramsey Lewis' influence (like "Sun Goddess" from 1974) in the 'ooh aah'-style backings vocals of the second track 'Mothers milk'. It's also '70s funk in featuring the odd sincere ballad in the form of 'Drawn to you' but it's 1978 by way of 1998, particularly Kruder and Dorfmeister's breakthrough album "The K&D Sessions".
This is smooth funk in the down-tempo, dub-influenced style of contemporary electronica and it's hella good fun and a cohesive album to boot.
