Mahogany – Connectivity

I truly hope this becomes a soundtrack of the summer for many; it deserves to.

http://www.trackandfield.org.uk/ http://www.konkurrent.nl/ http://www.mahogany.nu/

Golly mick, I wasn’t expecting a record like this. Right from the beautiful, shimmering opener Tesselation, Mahogany play tricks with your musical memory. The stuff that makes you ponder ‘now, where have I heard this before? Oh, I recognise that kind of baseline, that’s pure New Order and those vocal refrains are classic Stereolab’; that kind of stuff.

By the end of the album, the band have renounced any form of cross-band kleptomania and progressed deep into Cocteau Twins territory; (with the last three tracks; Domino Ladder Beta, Springtime Save Our Country, and My Bed is My Castle being almost note for note work outs). As if further clarification were needed, the single mixes on the second, "bonus multimedia" CD that this lucky reviewer received has been produced by Robin Guthrie.

Before you think oh here we go again, another snide dismissal from yours truly, let me say this is a hell of an album. Punchy, not afraid to be ethereal and dreamy and beautifully paced, this CD has been the sole object of attention since I first stuck it on. And I’m glad to say, despite me being able to pinpoint references with an ease comparable to that of an old sea dog taking his grandson out on a pedalo, it’s not a nostalgia trip on my behalf. No, let’s be fair, this album is bloody brilliant. Enjoyable in the extreme are the up-tempo tracks such as Supervitesse or One plus One Equals Three or More, that display glacial, snarling vocals and are graced by some tremendously punchy drumming.

I truly hope this becomes a soundtrack of the summer for many; it deserves to.

Words: Richard Foster.