FaltyDL – Hardcourage

You know sometimes when an album is released and you don't know why it's hitting, one by one, your notes? This one from Falty DL, a producer I always admire but do not always enjoy, is one of these albums, from the first to the last tracks. It reminds me to the electronic music that got me to be a junkie of the genre: the synth work and lazy melodies have hints of Ultramarine's "A users Guide", from T-Polar's "Red Machine", from the first Recloose works, from Chateau Flight, from the most synthetic works of Sonar Kollektiv. This was a one-off, an isolated album between interesting works not as accessible and punchy, and I still cannot start playing and stop it in the middle.

Planet Mu and Ninja Tune have been trading a lot of artists back and forth lately, and FaltyDL is the latest. His Ninja Tune debut, HARDCOURAGE, starts with the bass-heavy 80s synth pop of "Stay I'm Changed" before the shoegaze-house of "She Sleeps." "Straight & Arrow" is more straightforward in its house leanings, but there's a crispness to the production that really makes it shine. Indeed, the shimmering synths of "Uncea" add a bouncing brightness, while the slower "For Karme" adds a twinkle to a light dubstep. Deep, smoky jazzhouse becomes the order of the day with "Finally Some Shit / The Rain Stopped," and some thick funk invades "Kenny Rolls One." The tech-house takes over "Korben Dallas," allowing "Reassimilate" to prance a little more quietly and jauntily. "Bells" ends the album on a uplifting note, a perfect cap to a joyous, entertaining album.