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Album: Elmore Judd

Insect Funk (Honest Jon's)

Andy Gill
Friday 19 October 2007 00:00 BST
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It might have slipped out quietly, but this first widely available release from Elmore Judd is too interesting to overlook. The sound is a mixed bag, but it's a bag full of interesting flavours, from the Portishead-y soundtrack textures of "Evil Laughs" to the Steely Dan-esque swing and mellow horns of "Rats", and the relaxed, retro-electropop of "We Float in Time" to the Tiger Lillies-ish cast of "Pirate Song" , which opens the album with a frank manifesto: "Come and listen to our song, the tune's all twisted, it's come out wrong."

They're not kidding: it's impossible to pin Insect Funk down to any specific mode, and there's a suspicion of fixed meaning in the lyrics too, judging by lines like: "Words don't mean a thing / Mean everything". This is from one of the standout tracks, "Disco In 4 Pieces", an infectious blend of itchy, damped guitar riff and sequenced electronic tones rivalled only by the title-track, which pares the rhythm back to just a funky skeleton of second-line drums and the merest hint of bass. An intriguing prospect.

Download this: 'Disco In 4 Pieces', 'Insect Funk', 'Rats', 'We Float in Time'

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