Future Rhythm Machine

Description

Having brought 2011 to a close with two sell out releases ('Oh My Days' & 'Highlife') under his belt, a growing fan base which counts Ricardo Villalobos, Andrew Weatherall, Gilles Peterson, Caribou and Jackmaster amongst its members. Lining up residencies at the legendary Plastic People in London, Glasgow's Sub Club and festival appearances this summer, Auntie Flo has been on a roll! It now gives us great pleasure in presenting the Future Rhythm Machine. Whilst Future Rhythm Machine isn't a full length debut album, it is a body of work which draws on and demonstrates Auntie Flo's far flung influences which include African and Latin lessons in rhythm from the likes of Fela Kuti, William Onyeabor and Matias Aguayo, the refinery of Ricardo Villalobos and Four Tet and is charged with the instinctive energy from Kwaito and Chicago house. Also inspired by Black Atlantic diasporic culture and the writing of Kodwo Eshun, Steve Goodman (Kode 9) and Paul Gilroy. Featuring guest vocals from sultry Chilean singer Mamacita (whose own material is forthcoming on the label) and Glasgow's favourite South African, Esa Williams. Future Rhythm Machine was actually the first piece of work we'd heard from the Auntie Flo project (it was actually the catalyst for starting the label) and despite it being an earlier incarnation to what we now present, its originality still shines through and has stood up to (many) repeated listens. With only a few straight up club tracks, we hope you enjoy listening to this at home, in the club or on the move as much as we do. Kodwo Eshun talks about the 'futurhythmachine' where he disputes the western futurist pre-occupation with noise in favour of rhythm - it is the rhythm machine which joins the dots between all music of the black atlantic from Afrobeat and Highlife to Techno, Soul and Hip Hop. Whilst I have always been interested in 'black music', I had less exposure to African and South American music until a few years ago, so there is still a freshness which is really exciting. I have always been drawn to the rhythm or groove of any piece of music, much more so than lyrical content for example. When I listen to African music i hear new rhythms, new possiblities and a glimpse into another world. Auntie Flo Glaswegian Brian D'Souza's Auntie Flo project always seemed like a potentially problematic one to me, taking afrohouse and tribal tropes to a place of pseudo-ethnographic facsimile. The few tracks bearing the Auntie Flo name before this release, however, have worked in spite of their obvious gimmick, and the "problems" begin to fall away completely in the wake of Future Rhythm Machine. Over the course of 33 minutes D'Souza plots out a course far beyond the purview of those previous tracks. Things start out predictably but promisingly with "Haven't Got Any Body," a bass-heavy rattler loaded with twangy strings that poke out from between the beats, and flow into "La Samaria," a vocal track with Mamacita that balances its UK-friendly shuffle with even-more-UK-friendly descending basslines. While there are still clubby tracks like the mellotron-heavy "He Makes the People Come Together" which sounds like Crazy Couzins transported to the late '70s the longer format allows D'Souza to play around, so we get gorgeous little interludes like the string-led lament of "Can I Have Him," or even better, the spiraling arpeggios of "Yllw Fllw." Future Rhythm Machine is more inviting than your average "bass" project. The imposing squalls of sub on the percolating closer "Futurismo" are more like a friendly hug than a blow to the chest. It's that happy medium that Auntie Flo is most comfortable in: I can't decide if the highlight "Train" is dance floor dynamite or consummate headphones music, with a plaintive lope that recalls Pittsburgh Track Authority and striking string/percussion interplay, but like most of Future Rhythm Machine it's bound to tickle your pleasure centers, strike you dumb and move your feet all at the same time. --Resident Advisor As Auntie Flo, Brian d Souza cooks up some seriously colourful dancefloor fare. The Glasgow resident really started turning heads with last year s Goan Highlife EP, a sunny blend of tribal percussion and bright four-to-the-floor house. Singles like Oh My Days made their way into Gilles Peterson and Joy Orbison s record boxes. His sound is exuberant, unapologetic and plenty of fun. d Souza is set to return with a new mini-album on Huntleys & Palmers, titled Future Rhythm Machine. It s possibly his most pan-global release yet, and FACT now have an exclusive stream of the record for your delectation. Chilean singer Mamacita and Springbok-via-Scotland Esa Williams both make vocal appearances. Picked strings, hand drums, monkey yowls and the twinkle of thumb pianos are discernible in the swirl. d Souza s avowed influences ranging from Highlife to Kodwo Eshun , and Future Rhythm Machine is heterogenous as you might expect. --Fact Mag As Auntie Flo, Brian d Souza cooks up some seriously colourful dancefloor fare. The Glasgow resident really started turning heads with last year s Goan Highlife EP, a sunny blend of tribal percussion and bright four-to-the-floor house. Singles like Oh My Days made their way into Gilles Peterson and Joy Orbison s record boxes. His sound is exuberant, unapologetic and plenty of fun. d Souza is set to return with a new mini-album on Huntleys & Palmers, titled Future Rhythm Machine. It s possibly his most pan-global release yet, and FACT now have an exclusive stream of the record for your delectation. Chilean singer Mamacita and Springbok-via-Scotland Esa Williams both make vocal appearances. Picked strings, hand drums, monkey yowls and the twinkle of thumb pianos are discernible in the swirl. d Souza s avowed influences ranging from Highlife to Kodwo Eshun , and Future Rhythm Machine is heterogenous as you might expect. --Fact Mag