Bodycode: A Document of an African Past
Yore

With multiple releases on Background Records, ~scape, and Ghostly/Spectral already under his belt, Alan Abrahams (aka Bodycode and Portable) presents a fabulous fusion of ultra-deep House and Afro-futurism on his Yore debut A Document of an African Past. Abrahams sounds positively unleashed on the twelve-minute A-side, “The Centre of Time,” which pushes the Bodycode sound farther than ever before. After opening with scattered flurries of African percussion, a warbling bass line emerges, asserting some degree of control, before a skipping pulse and voice yelps send the track on its way. Abrahams has shown himself in the past to be a master builder when it comes to weaving layers into intricate masses and does the same here too. Halfway through the piece, a breakdown occurs, allowing percussion flourishes to re-appear, now accompanied by a voiceover, before the tune kicks into gear again even more ferociously for the ride home. Lerato's sweetly soulful vocals grace the B-side's “Body to Body,” a mesmerizing deep house anthem that proves a perfect complement to the volcanic opener. With its swinging pulse, “Body to Body” is a little bit more in line with the established Bodycode style but is no less delicious for being so. Throughout its ten-minute duration, Abrahams stokes a funk house groove that's got club-ready written all over it and, when Lerato's “Let's get it on” appears halfway through and the tight beats turn even funkier, the moment is pure bliss. Abrahams continues to amaze, regardless of whether the material appears under the Portable or Bodycode guise.

December 2007