A Guy Called Gerald
First Try
!K7

Detroit-style techno. Having moved to Berlin recently, Gerald seems to look back to the roots and builds an emotional string-laden flow of waves with a classic approach. But hey, the spices are right and that's what we want to spend our money on! If not revolutionary, this shows how much mileage still lies in those roots of techno.

[Reviewer: Thomas Fehlmann]

A Guy Called Gerald
First Try
!K7

SUREPLAYER

(4.5/5 stars)

Wow, boy does this guy move around. Now based in Berlin, 'First Try' is A Guy Called Gerald's new EP. The opening track 'First Try' is typical of his sound - mighty and epic with minimal acid, a track that will give instant pleasure to any dancefloor. It's followed by 'Meaning', a nice deep electronic track. Over on the flip, 'Pump' is a straight house groove, and final track 'Tajeen' sounds like an experimental beat extravaganza. I like this if a lot.

[Reviewer: P]

A Guy Called Gerald
First Try
!K7

What with the genius of Gerald Simpson coming to light once again in recent months with the unearthing of 808 State’s classic Prebuild material and the re-release of the mighty Newbuild, we figure its only fair that the man decides to ditch the coffee table drumbnbum of his last album and instead returns to top form. Gerald was always an innovator – starting off with the unchallenged Acid supremacy he concocted with analogue Manchester brethren back in the day, moving on to the frightening, seminal genius of "Voodoo Ray" and onto the proto-junglist Hardcore of his deeply inspired "Black Street Technology" set - Gerald’s credentials cannot be messed with. After that it all went a bit wrong, too many classy, smooth edges to the production, no rough edges..... game over. Or was it? Well, while "First Try" may not exactly bring anything new to the table, this is easily the man’s finest release in a long long time - deep spacious machine music inspired by Detroit (the ace title track), Autechre-driven analog intricacies (Meaning) and even some tricky minimal House music (Pump). In case you were wondering why it is that all our musical heroes at some point or another loose the plot....... here’s a nice exception to the rule. Ace.

[Reviewer: Boomkat]

A Guy Called Gerald
First Try EP
!K7 (UK), !K7137EP

Iconic Manchester producer Gerald Simpson returns with the first fruits of his labours at his new Berlin base. There's plenty to enjoy across the four tracks, too, from the epic electronic symphony of 'First Try' to the bassy bliphop of 'Meaning', bumpy house sound of 'Pump' and the late night electro jazz vibes of 'Tageen'. Electronic head music for late night bleep junkies - Gerald's new album should definitely be worth a listen.

[Reviewer: MA]