Albums
aus
Aidan Baker
Big Farm
The Black Dog
Blackshaw & Melnyk
Budhaditya Chattopadhyay
Clockwork
Matthew Collings
Coma
DJ Koze
Djrum
Eluvium
Fredda
Freska
Hanging Up The Moon
Jenny Hval
Jimpster
Rena Jones
Mark Lorenz Kysela
Leonhard + Red
Naph
Petrels
Piano Interrupted
Pursuit Grooves
David Rothenberg
Saltland
subtractiveLAD
Terminal Sound System
Andrew Weathers

Compilations / Mixes
Joy
Kumasi Music Volume 1
John Morales
One Point Three (A & B)
Maceo Plex
Soma Compilation 21
Steffi

EPs / Cassettes / Singles
Alter Echo & E3
Amiina
Badawi VS Ladyman
Bunnies & Bats
Diffraction of Sound EP
Gerwin
Heligoland
Hibea
The Monroe Transfer
Chris Octane
RSD
Katsunori Sawa
Andy Vaz

Jimpster: Porchlight and Rockingchairs
Freerange

Does Jamie Odell know a thing or two about track construction? Consider: the man's been involved in the music business for twenty-plus years as a producer, remixer, DJ, and label manager (the UK house labels Freerange and Delusions Of Grandeur). The latest evidence of his skills arrives in the form of the hour-long Jimpster set Porchlight and Rockingchairs, his first studio album since 2006's Amour.

Neither ambient soundscape nor stadium raver, the typical Jimpster track goes down smoothly. One could do worse than start with the title track as proof, especially when the uplifting standout embodies the album's generally sunkissed spirit in its shimmering synth melodies, bass swagger, and jubilant club pulse. The album's relaxed, late-night vibe is well-captured in swooning pieces such as “Hold My Hand,” “Brought To Bare” (an entrancing setting by the vocal presence of Jonatan Bäckelie), and the hypnotic “Wanting You” (replete with glockenspiels and field recordings). Evoking the style of Delusions Of Grandeur, Jimpster's rawer side moves to the fore in a pumping bass-burner like “Cracks in the Pavement” while its trippier leanings are well-captured in the synth-heavy exploration “Towards the Seer.” The closing “These Times” ends the collection on a wistful, ballad-styled note with Beauty Room singer Jinadu adding an emotive vocal to Jimpster's electro-acoustic backdrop.

Presented with no small amount of sonic splendour and charm, the material, nominally deep house in character, isn't lacking in rhythm either. A case in point is “Dance Of The Pharoes” [sic], which offers as ravishing an arrangement as might be desired while also ensuring that its groove is well-accounted for. Synthesizers, piano (acoustic and electric), claps, vocals, beats (programmed and otherwise), and even acoustic guitar (on “These Times”) thread their way into Jimpster's sonorous mix. Music production comes easily to Odell—which shouldn't be interpreted to mean that the music on Porchlight and Rockingchairs feels complacent. Infused with musicality and grooving beats, the album's twelve cuts are a thoroughly polished lot and, for the most part, a lot of fun, too.

May 2013