YosepH by Luke Vibert (WARPCD112P)

text

Since genius has become an over used and pretty much meaningless word, I’ll limit myself to describing Luke Vibert as a very, very, very talented person. At no time since the Prince of the 80s and early 90s has there been someone so prolific and talented making so many records. Since his first long player, Phat Lab Nightmare, he’s been a hard man to keep up with but the snappy, groovy slip-slap of Throbbing Pouch (and it’s ‘bonus’ EP At Amos) as Wagon Christ and the weird mayhem of Drum ‘n Bass for Papa as Plug are all time classics that every fan of dance and electronic music should have. Big Soup (as Luke Vibert), Tally Ho (as Wagon Christ) and Stop the Panic (with BJ Cole) should be next on the list if you have those and there’s more, all of it good.

And if he’s not quite the star that Aphex Twin is (and he deserves to be) then he’s recognised by a lot of great labels as a talent worth investing in: Rising High, Mo’ Wax, Blue Planet and now Warp are just a few that have asked him to supply the goods. Although this is his most backward looking and least obviously innovative album that he’s produced to date it doesn’t disappoint. This is a celebration of acid and isn’t just pointless pastiche. It tips its hat to the past whilst strutting and bobbing confidently into the future. And that future’s bright, and that future’s definitely Vibert.

During his acid DJ set on the last night of Big Chill Naxos 2001 I was struck by two thoughts: “Great, I haven’t heard stuff like this for years” and “erm, dance production improved a lot since this stuff was released”. It’s as if he read my mind: Yoseph is a celebration and reinvention of the hypnotic, bumpy, jacking squelch that was Acid. That groove and vibe but through a lovely pair of Luke Vibert 2003 rose tinted production glasses. I Love Acid, the centre point of this collection and a worthy homage, really ought to be the title of the whole album but I’m told that the pH of Yoseph is the link. Sadly the track Yoseph, is one of the few places were Vibert drifts into dull noodling, but a sample from that Radio 2 jingle from the seventies (stare-eee-ohhhh) at the end puts the smile back on your face and makes you forgive and forget.

There are nods to Kraftwerk’s Computer World LP (released in 1981 and arguably at least half the blueprint for Acid House and a million other things) - NokTup bears a strong resemblance to Home Computer and Countdown quotes directly from Numbers. And looking further back Ambalek wouldn’t sound out of place in Walter Carlos’ score for A Clockwork Orange. Elsewhere it’s pure Vibert though: Slowfast is from the Plug part of his brain and Freaktime Baby throbs like Wagon Christ’s pouch.

Not his best collection of tunes, but still streets ahead of most other things you’ll hear this year. Highly recommended.