Monday, May 11, 2009

Smith & Mudd - Le suivant

Smith & Mudd - Le suivant

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Le suivant (’the next one’, or ‘the follower’) is our second album that we’ve just finished. This one took just over a year to do and was a real joy to make - hopefully you’ll see it as a natural progression from the last one, ‘Blue river’.

We worked with a handful of new session musicians on this, including our good friend Robin Lee from Faze Action. He was amazing to work with, very natural in picking up the vibe of the track and always hit the nail on the head straight away. There’s some wonderful flute solos from Tamar and an amazing live Sitar take from our friend Dave Noble.

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Moonboots has done the sleeve notes for this one, so let him take you through the album:

It’s raining. Sitting here on a cold & wet Mancunian afternoon it’s difficult to remember what summer feels like. However with this, the so-called difficult second album, a feeling of warmth breaks through the gloom.

Ten tracks in total (unless you’re lucky enough to own a Japanese copy) which continue on that deep Balearic vibe that Smith & Mudd are renowned for. As with the first album there’s more to S&M than a few pretty deep house tracks. We start with ‘New sofa’ a lovely mid-afternoon, pastis drinking, ambient piece before entering ‘Genoa’s gentle tribal drums and chants, another classic Smith & Mudd bassline. ‘Little Millie’ comes next, a totally infectious latin groove and what a guitar line! The flute solo ain’t bad either.

‘The delivery man’ does exactly what it says on the tin, delivering a killer groove, rolling percussion and an infectious guitar lick. The album title track then heads off into spookier territories - feel the sitars. Psyche-balearic anyone? My personal favourite. ‘Two Rivers’ drops next with it’s Ashra-vibed guitars layered over another epic bass line. Also it features the first vocals of the CD. A direction I can definitely see S&M taking in the future and  perfect for those summer holidays to come. ‘Ninety three’ is a spaced out, slo-mo killer with a cheeky little GET UP vocal refrain. It’ll sound great at 6am with the sun rising over the Adriatic.

‘Wem’ gets it’s second airing on CD after debuting on a comp by some hairy Mancs last year. It’s companion piece, ‘The waiting’ is probably the greatest Cafe del Mar sunset track you’ve never heard (unless you bought  the super ltd 7”).  There’s a distinct eastern flavour to this beauty.

Finally, ‘Annette Road’s Betty Blue-esque harmonicas bring a suitably gentle end to a truly lovely listening experience. As you drift off towards the end of this album you realise Smith & Mudd have pulled off something very special here.
Tricky second album my arse.

Moonboots, Manchester February 2009

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Posted via web from timmmii

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