Dave Harrow's CV alone is staggering: years in Berlin including producing the young Alec Empire; key member of Jah Wobble's Invaders Of The Heart; time spent in Adrian Sherwood's ON-U band Dub Syndicate; writer of hits for Billy Ray Martin; collaborations with Psychic TV and Andy Weatherall....the list is virtually endless, not to mention jaw-dropping.
Thankfully, in spite of all this (not to mention producing in the US and Australia), he's also found the time to forge an identity for himself as JAMES HARDWAY: so named because his middle name is James and he has a propensity for doing things the hard way. But then, as the man himself said recently in conversation with W&H, "music isn't supposed to be easy."
Certainly, Dave's records as James Hardway have been nomadic in intent, with 2000's "Moors & Christians" proving a landmark release with Hardway travelling to Cuba and doing a dance-related version of a Ry Cooder and immersing his work in Afro-Cuban rhythms.
Last year's "Straight From The Fridge" was a further development of this ideal and now here's the third part of the trilogy in "Big Casino": further proof, if any were needed in a year that's rocked to the sounds of The Streets, LSK and Nightmares On Wax that intelligent, inventive dance music is still out in force if you can be bothered to find it.
"Big Casino" is a fine, consistent abum that's convincing pretty much from start to finish and kicks off regally with the ELUV collaboration "Feel In Love". Arguably the very best thing here, it's got a beaut of a Cuban groove, slip slide-y bassline and sexy vox from ELUV. Midway through, a nagging melody motif rears up and nails you magnificently.
Great start and most of what follows holds up, too. "Ocean Wide" is spacy, airy and good, while "Heart Beat" ushers in what's being referred to as 'hybrid jazz', via a fascinating mash-up of repetetive electro bleeps and keyboards, jazzy cymbals and some nice brass.
Elsewhere, there's the frantic and exciting "People Getting High", with a massively impressive funky rhythm and Ghetto Priest's vocal sample floating into the melee; "See Through Me", where a tiny guitar hook punches through windows and a cool, dubwise bassline pans around and "Time To Go", which is graced by Roger Harmar's mega stand-up bass playing and flecks of marimba.
|
Sensibly, though, old hand Hardway keeps a couple of trumps in reserve for the bank. "Rise Up" is the first, with Ghetto Priest's testifyin' vocal earning considerable credit before some surprise acoustic guitar texture spars with more seductive Cuban rhythms and a jaywalkin' bassline. "Gotta catch the vibes if you wanna stay alive," breathes Priest as soulful stabs of organ enter the fray and there's even room for a cool house-y piano bit.
Brilliantly, though, "Worms And Weasels" is kept in reserve for afterwards. Slower in tempo, with marimba and sax luring us in, it's really, really jazzy and tempts some skankin' guitar chops to add a reggae tinge. Sounds an unlikely success, I know, but such is James Hardway's sussed magpie approach that he makes it thrillingly his own.
Sure, "Big Casino" is a potent strain of dance music, so don't expect lyrical insight beyond the usual vibe-y utterings, but it's still done with verve, panache and far more soul than most people working in this notoriously precarious area can muster after years of practice. Following James Hardway demands open-mindedness, but surely that's what all this is about, isn't it? If you go about it this way, "Big Casino" will prove an enlightening gamble and one that will find you cashing in a mountain of chips when the evening's finally done.
|
