Chris Joss – No Play No Work
Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/8/11
Funk with retro influences, modern electronics. French multi-instrumentalist and producer. Very few, rather low-key vocals, so not all tracks are instrumentals, although most are damn close.
1. 3:56 ***upbeat complex funky drums, blatty keyboard and electronics. Seems to get faster as it goes along. Bits of scratch ‘n’ sniff, repeated chorus, creepy verse right at end.
2. 4:26 ***fast blatty funk, bit of almost buried spoken vocals, bluesy guitar.
3. 3:55 ****uptempo pop ‘n’ lock groove, OG style processed vocals.
4. 4:37 ***Latin-tinged funk, sparse instrumentation, mostly drum, bass, keyboards, no vocals.
5. 3:18 ***fast, complex rhythm, lots of echo and a bit of Blaxploitation, no vocals.
6. 3:19 ****midtempo, very groovy funk strut with lots of bottom end. Bit of spoken word and spaghetti western guitar.
7. 3:24 ****uptempo, bassy blatty, processed vocals.
8. 3:02 **very low-key (in all respects), upright bass, chimes – a bit of voodoo vibe.
9. 3:34 **uptempo, glitchy and scratchy with lots of keyboard.
10. 2:20 ***uptempo, complex rhythm, lots of high end keyboard, sax, retro sound. Speeds up as it goes, a bit of quite nice solo percussion near end.
11. 3:14 ****disco funk, midtempo, retro sound, fun. Some alarming animal noises in second half…
12. 5:01 ***midtempo, grunty bass, echo-laden electronics, almost whispered vocals. Switches to messy electric guitar jam for last minute or so.