The moment of truth. Or at least that’s what you might be expecting. But truth seldom arrives in such a timely, predictable fashion, delayed as it often is by inspiration, copyright clearance or its complete reluctance to offer closure, both on a musical and intellectual level. An artist is only ever as good as the last album he made or as predictable as anything he completes subsequently. So if this is the moment of truth, it could only ever be a temporary, provisional beast, more an indication of where the artist has been already than a clue about where he is heading; a trail of hope, perhaps. And as most trackers will know only too well, trails can very often go cold. So if you thought you had this remarkable little French hip-hop-trip-hop producer nailed, don’t drop the hammer just yet, as ‘Hope and Sorrow’ is as wriggly, shape-shifting and broad as its critically acclaimed predecessor and debut, ‘Tales of the Forgotton Melodies’ (which is said to have notched up 60,000 sales in homeland France).
Part scratchy, turntablist dream factory (‘Once Upon A Past’, ‘Radio Broadcast’, ‘Sometimes’), part Bristolian, nourish trip (‘The Way We Lived’, ‘The Man With No Soul’) and part perky, party mosh-pit (‘Positively Inclined’, ‘The Tune’) Tailor’s sophomore effort scores a charming if overly deferential tip and a wink to all the funkee indie mavericks like DJ Shadow, Dan “The Automator“ Nakamura and Prince Paul whilst simultaneously ripping from the archive, classic old school quirksters like De La Soul. The upshot of this is that you get the best of both worlds: smokey, downtempo flutes, cellos and all manner of vibrating, gumshoe guitars plus shitloads of frothy, frolicsome beats and bustling, brass-stabbing choruses – a bit like being at Cannes Film Festival and your local IMAX cinema both.
Guests include Sharon Jones, Ursula Rucker, Marina Quiasse, Charlotte Savary, The Others and A State of Mind.
Perhaps a little too sweet for some tastes (ie. those whose preference is rap and not hip-hop), but juicy all the same. Dramatic (slash) over zealous. A half-life.
WAX TAILOR – ‘HOPE & SORROW’ – OUT NOW