Artist: DJ Shadow
Album: The Less You Know the Better
Rating: 
The album cover for the new release by the subtly named Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire looks like a woman with dyed-purple hair downing a bottle of beer and playing with herself, but it couldn’t possibly be that could it, because no sane mind would opt for such an image to promote a release. But for me it’s less about the content of the image and more about the over-saturation of its colour palette. The curtains are a sick sky blue and the subject’s outfit looks the discarded result of a drunken mustard fight. The album cover is artistically flawed, so I’m dismissing the entire work on that basis. I think I’m justified on this occasion.
Artist: Luomo
Album: Plus
Rating: 
I’ve been listening to a lot of underground material of late that revisits the repositories of the 1980s. Luomo is one such artist, although he tends to hover just above the surface, fusing old synth work with vocals reminiscent of the Pet Shop Boys or The Beloved. Producing this sound in 2011 is to walk the tightrope of integrity, but when it works, it works well and Plus by Luomo works well. It might not be the release you dig out for mates to impress them with your grasp of the contemporary, it’s more of a guilty pleasure, consisting of simple sounds that like each other, brought together to enjoy themselves. Isn’t everything just great?
Artist: Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire
Album: Lost in Translation
Rating: 
The album cover for the new release by the subtly named Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire looks like a woman with dyed-purple hair downing a bottle of beer and playing with herself, but it couldn’t possibly be that could it, because no sane mind would opt for such an image to promote a release. But for me it’s less about the content of the image and more about the over-saturation of its colour palette. The curtains are a sick sky blue and the subject’s outfit looks the discarded result of a drunken mustard fight. The album cover is artistically flawed, so I’m dismissing the entire work on that basis. I think I’m justified on this occasion.