Although this debut album took four years of hard labour
to put together, Paris-based Jackson Fougeraud first
appeared amidst the French Touch craze of the mid-to-late
nineties with a series of house-inspired EPs released
on Pumpkin Records and Sound Of Barclays. Despite positive
reception at the time, Fougeraud saw the limitation
of the genre and began expanding on his sound, increasingly
chopping and dissecting his compositions and injecting
elements of raw funk, soul, electro and techno right
at the heart of his original template. Jackson returned
in 2003 with the single Utopia, which opens
the album. Featuring his mother, Paula Moore, a singer
herself, on vocal duties, this track was nothing short
of impressive, with Jackson cramming an incredible amount
of influences and ambiences in just under six minutes.
This led him to remix a wide range of artists, from
Femi Kuti to Air and Vanessa Paradis to Freeform Five.
Now signed to Warp, Jackson follows the recent Rock
On EP with this radiant and daring debut album.
Setting up the tone with the confident Utopia
and Rock On, Jackson then goes on to accumulate
atmospheric moments, funky beats, melodic trickery and
inventive arrangements. At times evoking the cut’n’paste
technique of early Prefuse,
Jackson knows how to build up a tune, and he shows it
time and time again here. From the dense layered techno
of Arpeggio or the mechanical funk of Oh
Boy, which features his four-year-old niece, to
the martial Team Beat Ocean or the syncopated
Gameboy-freakery found on Headache, there is
always something to keep the mind entertained and the
foot tapping.
Although the majority of the compositions featured on
Smash are instrumentals, Jackson Fougeraud
relies on the vocal talents of his mother on Utopia
and Fast Life, on which she at times sounds
like a more impressionist Anne Clark, while Mike Ladd
makes an appearance on TV Dogs. Totally incorporated
in Jackson’s processing, these often become part
of the sonic make-up of his tracks and provide some
additional tones and textures.
Although Smash is utterly original, and something
of a grower, it is not just clever for the sake of it.
Behind every sound, beat, groove, is a purpose. Jackson
never set out to impress or do better than anybody else.
His only concern is the consistency of this record,
and he confidently manages to stay on track all the
way through while continuously exploring new avenues.
Smash is fresh, captivating, and one of the
most interesting debuts of the year.
4.6 |
