Laura Jones // Leftroom Presents [Leftroom Recordings]
Laura Jones’ first commercial mix CD, on Matt Tolfey’s Leftroom Recordings, hits us this month, and there is more than a hint of the British Summer to the tone of tracks on offer. The shimmer of the opening triplet of dOP & Masomenos, Soulade and Youandewan’s take on Homeboy’s Halfway, evokes an emotion of an uncertainly sunny scene, a climate that threatens to suddenly flick a cloud across the sun and sprinkle a shower on the unwary sun worshipper.
This is a consistent mood that is carried through the mix, contextually assisted in part by Laura mining the Leftroom catalogue roster for her selection – including contributions from Alex Celler, Gavin Herlihy, Kate Simko and Matt Tolfrey himself. The collection manages to stay away from being something you would trot out for the barbecue as a result, a counter argument against those meaningless compilations that drape themselves in thoroughly cliched, ripped off Jason Brooks-esque artwork, the average Joe friendly and neutrally decorated house of the mix world.
There is no better example of this sentiment when Laura drops in Matt Tolfrey and Sam Russo’s remix of her own track, Intentions. There is a tangible shift in groove, heightened further by following this up with the doomy drone of My Favourite Robot’s The Waiting Rain. Goosebumps appear over under-dressed exposed flesh as the weather closes in.
However, this brief moment of November come early is about as foreboding as the mood gets, with the direction quickly ushered towards the cheerful disco strings of Ryan Crosson’s take on Gavin Herlihy’s C’Mon People, and the light keyboard patter of Polyrhythmic’s self titled Polyrhythmic. Shadow casting clouds are ushered away and fizzing humidity returns.
In the home stretch and rather than pushing for an 80th minute crescendo, you can feel a tranquil descent; starting with Giorgio Luceri’s aquatic That Piano Overdub, moving on to a archives plundered in search for the long forgotten secret weapon of the past moment – this is provided by Francois K’s magic trippy touch on Floppy Sound’s Ultrasong – and finally, the acoustic edged ambience of the introduction is bookended with Guy Gerber’s shoegazing The Mirror Game – showing here in Snake Pit Dub form.
While the mix doesn’t instantly blow you out of the park’s duck pond, Laura’s deft and deep touch leads you gently down the garden path by the hand, catching you up almost by accident. Its certainly a worthwhile compilation, especially for those not yet versed in the Leftroom world.
Release Date: June 2012
Words: fourfourfun
