A GUY CALLED GERALD - Proto Acid

 

A GUY CALLED GERALD 'Proto Acid Berlin Sessions'
(LABORATORY INSTINCT)

Gerald Simpson's still one of those artists that deserves our respect...even if we have waited a little too long for a flash of 'Voodoo Ray' genius to surface from his output over the years. He apparently felt pressurised into using vocalists on recent albums, but with this 24-track live studio mix he's ditched the divas and decided to get back to his dirty, acid house roots and it really suits him. Recorded in one take from his new base in Berlin, this is a raw collection of club-orientated tracks, woven into each other like a DJ set; there's no gradual build up though, as 'Marching Powder' comes rumbling out of the traps, abruptly laying down the Detroit-meets-Chicago template that follows. It's definitely got a groove too with electro, house and techno elements vying for pole position throughout and acid tweaks never far away from the mix. It peaks with eight-minute, jacking thumper 'Voltar', but there's a continuity and freshness about the whole album that suggests that Gerald is making music he believes in again. Underground DJs across the globe will be licking their lips. M7/M8.