Standing at the door of my departure, I can hear Ozzy Osborne’s cough right when I play the very first song of this (so far) enigmatic album released on Hyperdub. ”Black Is Beautiful” is the brainchild of former Hype Williams members Dean Blunt and Inga Copeland (Russian born vocalist named Alina Strova). It is an odd first listening experience, since most of the tracks are so short; the pleasure of hearing it flies away right when you get through it. On different terms, off course, this album reminds me of the times when I was chasing girls and I would only get a little piece, when I was looking for the entire plate. I guess I can stick my frustration into an edit, lengthening a little bit those awesome short diamonds.
Tracks don’t even have titles, which is great, because in electronic music, nobody really cares about titles. They actually don’t count any importance in music, in general. The second track of the album (track 2) guided me to an awesome record originally released in 1979. It is a cover after the song called ”Baby”, by the Emerson brothers. It is great to see that somebody just made a reissue of it, so do bother to check out this ‘Pacific Northwest isolation mixed with wide-eyed ambition, a strong sense of family and the gift of music - the combination for teenage brothers Donnie and Joe Emerson.’ The album is called ”Dreamin’ Wild” and it was recorded in a family built home studio in rural Washington state; it is now available through Light in the Attic Records.
Back to Black Is Beautiful, the album itself is very diverse musically. There is a strong connection between track 3, track 7 and track 14, which altogether can come as a singular piece, split into a theoretical trilogy. All the instrumentals are so great produced, evoking an overall dark atmosphere, where the listener floats in and out, swimming like a fish through different genres and musical contexts that he encounters in this magnificent journey.
Nevertheless to say, have a red wine and join the whole plate when listening this record. Bottoms-up!
Tracklist:
A1. (Venice Dreamway)A2. 2
A3. 3
A4. 4
A5. 5
A6. 6
A7. 7
A8. 8
A9. 9
B10. 10
B11. 11
B12. 12
B13. 13
B14. 14
B15. 15