One brave, partially successful album in The Cloud Making Machine and one balmy delight, To All Things What They Need, by dance music veterans still innovating after all these years

It's over 15 years since "A Guy Called" Gerald Simpson and Parisian superstar DJ Laurent Garner were first caught up in the acid house lunacy of Manchester's Hacienda. Since then, dance scenes have risen and fallen, gone global, attracted snobbery, adulation, hype and vilification, and been declared dead any number of times - while the true pros have just kept on keeping on.

To All Things What They Need is the freshest thing that Moss-Side-via-Berlin innovator Simpson has done in years. From the spacious dreamscape whisperings of To Love via the heavenly bubblebath or electronic sounds in First Try to the relentless dub of Pump, the tempo is varied, and the textures are deliciously warm, inviting and human. Vocals by Ursula Rucker and Finley Quaye add queenly beat poetry and Hutchence-like sleaze respectively. Constantly alive and evolving, the intricate melodic trippiness never allows monotony to take over, and genre purism is gleefully trampled in the pursuit of sheer beautiful electronic sound.

Garnier's album treads similar ground down to the apocalyptic beat poet on First Reaction (V2). However, the approach is more portentous and prog-rocky: the soundscapes more drawn out, the keyboard noodling, the occasional beats clankier. Individual tracks - say Barbiturik Blues jazzy trip-hop, or the fizzy ambience of Act I Minoraure Ex - sound pretty tasty, but eventually the meandering makes one with Laurent would pull his Gallic socks up.

Still, it's undeniably innovative. proof, like Gerald's gorgeous album, that the old dogs of acid house have still got new tricks in them.

[Reviewer: Joe Muggs]

Mancunian tech no veteran takes magical mystery tour.

COSMIC B-BOY Gerald Simpson helped to define British acid house, first as an early member of 808 State in the '80s, then with the mesmerising Voodoo Ray. He went on to become a significant player during the genesis of drum'n'bass with his itchily paranoid 28 Gun Bad Boy album before dropping below the public radar. The Mancunian, like many techno-generation auteurs, has now pitched up as an expat in Berlin, and has found yet another voice. While there's an audible debt to the deep-space voyagers of Detroit's Red Planet label, this is a dreamier, more introspective take on techno. Hip hop beat-poet Ursula Rucker adds one of her compulsive manifestos, while Finley Quaye eschews his usual happy-clappy vibe for a more mysterious lyric that fits with the album's general air of enigmatic reverie.

[Reviewer: MATTHEW COLLIN]

The man best known for the seminal Hacienda anthem 'Voodoo Ray' returns with a mixed bag of an album that bluntly refuses to retread old ground. There's little of the acid house that made Gerald Simpson's name on here, and only a dash of the drum and bass he's also known for. Mostly, this is pretty experimental stuff - and as ever with that sort of album, some works, some doesn't. High points include 'Call For Prayer', a deep, haunting ambient track with a strong Eastern feel and 'Pump', where a minimalist house beat is filled wit with acid squelches and shrill high hits. Finley Quaye crops up to add some understated vocals to the drum and bass, 'Strangest Changes' - he thankfully seems have lost the irritating vibrato that used to plague his vocals - but Ursula Rucker's vocals on 'Millennium Sanhedrin' prove only to be pretentious beyond belief.

M6/M8

[Reviewer: Unknown]

To chart the rise and fall of UK dance music over the past decade and a half, up until UK Garage and the birth of Grime, you could just trace the outline of A Guy Called Gerald's career - from his Acid House origins in 808 State through the ethno-funk of "Voodoo Ray", to Hardcore and Jungle and downtempo. Ironically, even as a number of Gerald reissues are slated for reissue in 2005, offering a critical reappraisal of this history, the artist himself has moved to Berlin, along with he rest of the electronic music world. To All Things What They Need, Gerald's first album in five years, draws deeply on a wide swathe of Techno memory. The record's a mixed bag - on tracks like - "Millenium Sanhedrin" (featuring Ursula Rucker) and "Strangest Changes" (featuring Finley Quaye), Gerald seems so caught up in full-spectrum sound design that he forgets to push the music forward, even when employing drum 'n' bass cadences. The skittering "Meaning" sounds like the work of a breakbeat artist who just discovered Autechre's Amber, but deep Techno cuts like "To Love" revive the bleepy atmospherics of classic R&S/Apollo recordings, and the trampoline-taut, string-stabbed "Pump" is an energetic House track mat throws aside ideas of 'progression' to pay : tribute to a fully formed genre.

[Reviewer: Unknown]

With his reputation long synonymous with experimentation. Gerald Simpson established a long. long time ago that he had little to prove. Having ridden the acid house wave with 808 State and his solo material. he went on to push the boundaries of jungle with his 'Black Secret Technology' album. This second album for Berlin's K7 reflects Simpson's own move to the city. and a return to his roots in techno. Primarily instrumental, the triumvirate of 'American Cars', 'First Try' and 'Pump' defines the album: one man's summation of the last 20 years of electronic music; to the more reflective Detroit cuts typified by Jeff Mills or Derrick May.

As ever, it's not just about one genre, dabbling with jungle in the muezzin sampling 'Call For Prayer' and reconnecting with past collaborators in the two vocal tracks - Philadelphia supa sister Ursula Rucker appearing on 'Millennium Sanhedrin' whilst Finley Quaye crops up in 'Strangest Changes.' Although not quite as immediate as 'Essence; this is most definitely a grower from dance music's favourite survivor.

[Reviewer: Kingsley Marshall]

It's all about journeys for Gerald Simpson: from Moss Side to his current base in Berlin, via New York; from uncredited 808 State affiliate to retrospectively influential legend; from Voodoo Ray through drum'n'bass pioneer to the personal, political soundscapes that comprise his latest, superb album.

It's a forceful, soft-focus swirl of insidious imagery that, from the engrossing, pastoral, pad-heavy ambience of American Cars through to the spacey, tabla-tiled 'What God Is', explores themes of love, paranoia, mysticism and change. Long-time associate Finley Quaye pops up on the very D&B Geraldish 'Strangest Changes', and poet Ursula Rucker's quietly powerful appearance on 'Millenium Sanhedrin' is beautiful and challenging at equal turn. It has a permeating essence of spirituality that is skilful, paranoid, hopeful and often tissue-soft while reflecting the Mancunian's extraordinary knack of capturing the Zeitgeist amid progressive, deep arrangements.

He's just a guy, after all.

Why To All Things What They Need?

As you get older, a lot of stuff sticks to you. The first war in Iraq kinda didn't really bother me. And even when I moved to NY the whole attitude there, and the World Trade Centre, didn't really stick. But then I got really upset, and the therapy of that was actually doing music. I started reading about existence and reality. And the spirit of that is basically 'to all things what they need' so you have to go through certain things: you can't control them, but they happen for a reason.

It's a political album from one point of view

I've got friends who grew up in the GDR who were scared to speak in certain ways cause your neighbour might hear, and before you knew it, someone's knocking on your door. And I thought 'wow, that sounds just like when I was in New York'. I think it's time for people to get militant. It sounds a harsh word but I believe it.

But Its less confrontational

I think I grew out of that [way] of working. And reading how what I call 'The Other Side' do it, the hardcore republican, hardline Christian type people - and also hypnotists, and people like that, they use friendly suggestion; then that entices you into the realm of where you can be manipulated. It's not that I want to manipulate people, but out of wanting to do the opposite of what a lot of people expect. I actually found enjoyment in the peace and the space of not being aggressive.

And not being bound by expectation as much?

For me it feels like a movement in a direction of more clarity. I feel like from here, now, it's a clean slate. I'm not trying to be part of a scene, or anything like that, this is totally natural, [just] maturing into a space where you can have music that is pleasurable to listen to.

[Reviewer: Joe Shooman]

******** (8/10)

"The overall message is that we are all part of the same thing really and if you need something it'll come to you," says A Guy Called Gerald of his new album To All Things What They Need. The title comes from the work of Fu Hsi, an ancient Taoist Chinese sage who is said to have been a key player in the development of the I-Ching. "Everything in nature provides for everything else in a way," says Gerald from his base in Berlin.

"To all things what they need is like saying if you fight against it you disrupt it, but if you just feel what it is and go with it, you are providing for yourself and also helping everything else at the same time." If the ultimate message is one of mutual respect, knowing, understanding and accepting one's natural place in the grand scheme of things, it's inevitable that this album carries some political baggage. Wisely, Gerald gets it over with straight off, opening proceedings with American Cars, a comment on US gas guzzling culture containing a sampled radio broadcast: "Every gun, every warship, every tank, every military aircraft built is in the final analysis a theft from those who are hungry and are not fed, from those who are naked and are not clothed". His new album is a worldly, mature offering which draws on a wide variety of influences from around the world. There's poetry, vocals from old friend Finley Quaye, and even a sample of Maggie Thatcher's famous attempt to ingratiate herself to the American people. "You ain't seen nothing yet," she says to an amused crowd - how right she was.

[Reviewer: Stuart Aitken]

Für & Wider

Genre-übergreifende elektronische Alben sind mir eigentlich die liebsten. Denn die funktionieren nicht nur im Club, sondern wollen mehr als nur Werkzeug für DJs sein. Sie wollen einen Spannungsbogen aufbauen und (unter-) halten. Genau diesen Weg ist A Guy Called Gerald immer mit seinen Alben gegangen und schlägt auch diesmal keinen stilistischen Pfad ein, den er konsequent bis zu Ende geht. Als Resultat breitet sich ein elektronisches Album aus, das den Spagat zwischen allen Stilen von IDM über Techno bis hin zu TripHop wagt und dessen Hose im Schritt reißt. Denn Gerald Simpsons Ideen versuchen neue Wege zu gehen, aber viele der Sounds und Klangteppiche bleiben dabei einfach zu dünn, zu retro und zu old-skoolig in ihrem Wesen.

Da bleept es wie in alten Techno-Zeiten, fehlt den Streichern die Breite und mutiert ein Track wie ›Pump‹ zum langweiligen Daddel-Loop. Hätte Gerald die Qualität des erstklassigen TripHop-Tracks ›Strangest Changes‹ mit Finley Quaye gehalten, hätte das hier ein großes Album mit Seele und Spirit werden können. So wirkt ›To All Things What They Need‹ leider nur wie das Werk einer verblassenden Größe.

Dass der Mann nach längerer Pause dann auch in Sachen frischer Longplayer gesammelt rüberkommen wird, zeigt bereits ein Blick auf das schicke, fast schon Zen-mäßige Cover des neuesten Oeuvres von Gerald Simpson. Er geht uns auf dem Foto vom Horizont entgegen, war also quasi wieder mal schon da und hat historisch-futuristisches Gedankengut im Gepäck. Dance- und Elektro-Geschichte geschrieben hat er so manche im Laufe von gut zwei Jahrzehnten Producer- und DJ-Skills: als stilles Rädchen von 808 State, mit klugen Early-Rave-Sounds bis hin zu Solo-Innovationen in Sachen Drum’n’Bass. Und jetzt, Mitte des ersten Jahrzehnts des 21. Jahrhunderts, sehen die Dinge anders aus als »back in the days«: Gemäß dem Album-Titel soll nur das, was wirklich wichtig ist, eine Rolle spielen. Mit eigenem neuen Label, jamaikanischen Roots, exzellenten Connections sowie mal eben von Manchester nach Berlin umgezogen, sind die Möglichkeiten groß und zahlreich. Also wird, inspiriert von der Arbeit am eigenen Outlet Sugoi, an !K7 noch ein cinemascopisches Breitwand-Werk geliefert, das natürlich entsprechende Ausmaße hat und nicht ausschließlich dem Minimalismus frönt. Klare Worte von Ursula Rucker überraschen in so einem Zusammenhang eher weniger, die nölige Schurkenstimme des Schlitzohrs Finley Quaye schon eher. Und erst bei dessen Feature, Track Nr. #7, zieht dieser Typ namens Gerald das Tempo an und lässt den Trademark-Trommelbass raus. Vorher verlässt er sich verstärkt auf beatreduzierte Flächen-Meditation und sanfte Hüftaktivität, nur die letzten Tunes dieses pompös konzentrierten Releases werden entsprechend hochtourig von der obligatorischen Kickdrum dominiert. Das erfüllt dann vielleicht einige Erwartungen, wäre aber in diesem Zusammenhang fast schon nicht mehr nötig gewesen – und damit wären wir wieder beim Album-Titel. Den wir aber auch nicht überstrapazieren wollen.

[Reviewer: Moritz Sauer & Georg Boskamp]

4/10

Return of the Manchester dance legend! But enough about Bez on Celebrity Big Brother - 'A Guy Called' Gerald Simpson is still knocking out reheated acid house Inevitably, an appearance from reggae down Finley Quaye can't do much to make this sound relevant.

[This is why I don't bother to buy NME anymore - tossers! - Nick]

[Reviewer: Unknown]

**

Just when you think Gerald has finally been confined to the 'classics' racking to the echo of somebody somewhere once again exalting the virtues of 'Voodoo Ray', it's a breath of fresh air to see him re-emerge with yet another longplayer. His sixth to be precise, and in many ways this latest output sees a return to the atmospheric Detroit-inspired rhythms where it all began. Eschewing the drum and bass pat-terns bar one track with Finley Quaye, it's a curious mix that lights the touch-paper ('First Try' and the shimmering downbeat of 'Millennium Sanhedrin' with Ursula Rucker in particular) but never really threatens to takes off.

[Reviewer: Found Sounds]

Berlin's leftfield badboys !K7 Records are back with another addition to their already much-celebrated catalogue of mayhem. A Guy Called Gerald enters the ring once again, swinging left-hand jabs and uppercuts with gloves filled thick with brash electrobreak, glitch, and digitally enhanced soundscapes.

Gerald hit the ground running back in Manchester's early 80s electro revolution, and continues running strong well into the present day. Best known for his chart-topping single "Voodoo Ray," Gerald has been able to explore the extremely progressive (the actual sense of the word - not the genre) sounds and mentality that he is most familiar with through the voice of !K7. The newly completed "To All Things What They Need" full-length album calls forth a salvo of styles and production techniques.

The album begins with the sweetly sweeping 'scapes of "American Cars," nimbly ushering in the electro bounce and spoken words of "To Love" and "Millennium Sanhedrin" (the latter featuring Ursula Rucker). The album continues its glitchy bass-filled path as sounds of ethnic percussion and synths are laid to waste by sudden washes of digital knob twisting and perversion. Sony vocalist Finley Quaye lends his Bowie-esque stylings on "Strangest Changes," and follows with a waltz into the realm of funky glitch house on "Pump."

The album is outstanding; a prime example of what a seasoned electronica producer is capable of in this time of the world's overindulgence in bad electronica.

[Reviewer: Dustin Michael]

In these modern times, where a large proportion of the music released is as disposable as the mp3 file format it comes in and where the advanced intricacies of modern music production is used to cover up a lack of real invention and soul, its back to one of electronic music's pioneers to show us how it can be done. Gerald Simpson's timely follow-up to 'Essence' comes in the wake of the recent release 808 State's 'Pre-build' and re-release of 'Newbuild'. Gerald submerges the listener straight away into his headspace with the mechanical ambience of 'American Cars' before the ethereal vocals of Ayn are merged into the tribal drums of 'To Love'. Millennium Sanheridrin features Ursula Rucker's sublime vocals and poetry, the subtle production emphasising Gerald's jazz roots. Margaret Thatcher ironic proclamations draw us into 'Call for a Prayer' with its middle-eastern riffs and urgent drums. The prayer is indecipherable but the music is infused with a political stance that requires no posturing. Immediately it's apparent that the highly polished breaks of Gerald's last album have been replaced by the urban grit and inner city paranoia that infused his proto-jungle masterpiece 'Black Street Technology'. However, Gerald switches with ease from tribal rhythms that characterise the first couple of tracks to a sound more rooted in Kraftwerk on the Authechre-driven electronic funk of 'Meaning'. 'To all things what they need' showcases a huge range musical styles from break-beats to house and electro, suggesting a new found sense of freedom in Gerald style and all the better we are for it. My favourite two tracks are 'First Try' and 'What God is'. On 'First Try', Gerald returns to the Detroit-inspired machine music of his 'Voodoo Ray' and 'Pacific State' days. Rising pads, floating acid lines and a dubby bass line combining together in a track infused with the untainted soul of acid house and enough to bring a tear to the eye of any cynic. The closing track, 'What God Is', features a malfunctioning robot making its final proclamations to humans as the world around descends into chaos, driving break beats reminding us of the urgency of our fate. This is confirmation that Gerald is back to doing what he does best. Soaking up the political confusion and paranoia of the post-9/11 world and fusing it with primal rhythms, in the process, reminding us that electronic music can do much more than just make you groove. And with news of a timely update of the classic 'Voodoo Ray' in the pipeline, Gerald's musical legacy continues to grow in 2005.

[Reviewer: Maxxrelax]