MUKUL – You Don’t Know Me (12", Wasted Words Records)
Posted: January 25th, 2007, by Simon MinterThe album version of ‘You Don’t Know Me’ is the second track on this 12″, having been usurped by Howie B’s more-than-twice-as-long remix. This makes sense to me, as the short original album version from Mumbai-based Mukul is a heavily Tricky-influenced slice of loping trip-hop, with sleepy beats and gravelled vocals. It seems unfortunately relegated to a particular time in the past. Howie B’s remix leaves nothing much beyond heavily-treated snippets of vocals, peppering them over a superb seven-minute early-house-style evocation of simplicity and repetition; crystal clear metronomic beats underlying bouncing bubbles of synth.
Third track ‘Happy Birthday’ is an elegant mix of the styles of the first two tracks – slowly modulating acid-style melodies firing off between bass tones, topped off with those wasted-style vocals. It’s ever so slightly as if Mukul has been playing a little too much with his Reason loops – he seems to lack the mastery of simplicity evident in Howie B’s remix – but there are glimmers of darkness here which suggest the possibility of a new take on an all-too-familiar trip-hop sound.
Simon Minter
Simon joined diskant after falling on his head from a great height. A diskant legend in his own lifetime Simon has risen up the ranks through a mixture of foolhardiness and wit. When not breaking musical barriers with top pop combo Sunnyvale Noise Sub-element or releasing records in preposterously exciting packaging he relaxes by looking like Steve Albini.
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