Sykes
- Clunk, Click
From DJ MAGAZINE #344
"If
there was ever a section in record shops for
drum & bass love songs then it would be populated
with the music of Sykes. Their new Clunk Click outing
on Iris Light is their best yet."
Side Line #44
More or less 2 years after the "I Witness"
album, Sykes is finally back with a new
entertaining piece of music. I remember this
project (set up by Elixir member Martin Stovey)
for the jazzy chillout voyage they offer. The jazzy
atmosphere is still present but the main
difference is that the groovey, funky and
sometimes sensual aspect has been seriously
reinforced. The entire production goes more into
chillout and the description of lounge isn't far
away. It's the kind of production that needs to
grow on you, but you've to be fond of such a
style of music. you've to listen to this album
in the right circumstances. Just forget the hard
daily labor and fly away with the slow sensual
rhythms of a song like "Slipstream". It's just a
pity that the female vocals on this song aren't
terribly inspired and convincing. It would have
reinforced the dreamy atmosphere. With
"Shake The Bottle", we're coming close to the
pure lounge. You can feel all the relaxing
forces of Sykes, while you still have the like
the jazzy background. I personally prefer the
debut album, but this is a good continuation!
(DP:6)
Ambientrance 0603
Nothing "clunky" about it... everything clicks
when
sykes (Martin Stovey) applies his precision-crafted
electronic touches to the various musical
styles explored in clunk, click.
Sophisticated and streetwise, treading water floats
in
drum-pumped fluids of melting pianotones, synthsheens
and seductive bass. Sa-weet! Too-showy-for-me,
vocal-driven precious things is a sorta cabaret/pop
number, though undeniably well-crafted and
sensuous, followed by the purely instrumental groove
of sunrise, glowing with brass and funky bass.
Ghostly ivories twinkle into the nearly-eerie
atmospheres of clunk click (6:16), whose levitating
dreamstreams are then injected with sassy beats
and writhing bassiness which rev-up the soft surreality.
Incorrigibly sunny side-step bops with fun and vigor.
Sultry bass'n'beat stomper answers from abroad is
further decorated with coolly detuned ethno-jangles
and enshrouded by silky synthsymphonic strings.
Besides its cool title, human being, being human
flaunts a soft, neo-retro chorus, fab pianowork,
bass-heavy orchestration and lead vocals from Ali.
World-ly rhythms bounce brightly into luxuriously
lilting babettes feast (4:08), soon being joined by
even-more-energetic e-beats... Utterly charming!
sykes' masterly music-making goes far beyond the
onomatopoeia implied by a title like clunk, click...
expect ten full-blown electron-extravaganzas...
perkily percussive ones at that. Sure, I'm less partial
to the few singing tracks (but hey, that's why I've got
my head in all this ambient/electronic stuff anyway...).
A-
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Sykes - I Witness
Somamag.de - 280901 (Germany)
Diese LP hat schon beim ersten Hören so
gezündet, wie es seit langem keine andere
getan hat. Elf groovige Downtempotracks mit schönen
Melodien und eingängigen Samples fesseln
den Hörer vom ersten bis zum letzten Ton an sein
Sitzmöbel und lähmen den bösen Skipfinger für
mindestens 62 Minuten und 17 Sekunden. Und selbst
danach gelingt nur ein erneutes Play. Ich würde ja
gern noch mehr zu dieser Platte schreiben, aber
die Lähmung setzt gerade wieder ein.
Rough Translation of Soma Review:
This LP already ignited in such a way when first
hearing, as it did for a long time no different one.
Eleven groovey Downtempo tracks with beautiful
melodies and unusual Samples bind the listener from
first to the last tone to their seat furniture and paralyse
the bad Skip finger for at least 62 minutes and 17 seconds.
And even after it only a renewed Play succeeds.
I would write gladly still more to this disk, but the
paralysis reinserts even.
XLR8R - #47 (San Fransisco, USA) FEATURED
REVIEW
Imagine yourself as a traveller present for the
discovery
of a new island. You soak in the imagery: every leaf
becomes a universe of intimate details, every beachhead
a highway to potentially rich terrain. now imagine returning
home and describing all that you've seen, felt and
experienced. without photos or evidence, your words
and first-hand anecdotes become the visuals. In the
same way one is eyewitness to a momentous
event, so too is Martin Stovey's (a.k.a. Sykes) chillout
mastepiece I Witness a document that tells an
abundant story fleshed out through music. Stovey's
spacey downtempo track "Echo Chamber"
(on LTJ Bukem's Cookin' Volume four Compilation)
immediately gained attention this year for its fusion
of effervescent synth currents and the snappiest
of drum programming. Similarly, this album's 11 tracks
glisten with the gold-flake of perfectly arranged
strings, soulful guitar riffs, hazy synth banks and
intrinsic piano improvs. Tracks like "Everything I
Dreamt I Saw Happen" and "Flawless Secrets" are
oases of cool blue melodies that roll along at 95
beats-per-minute (the average throughout the recording)
slyly weaving in a 1001 Strings sample here or
a rare groove beat there. Joining new school peers
such as Bonobo, Broadway Project, Blue States,
Unforscene and pioneers like Global Underground
and Attica Blues, Stovey has found the perfect
way to testify to the beauty of his artistic discoveries.
AMBIENTRANCE (December 2000) 9
out of 10
I Witness is the full-length debut which finds Martin
Stovey (formerly of Elixer) taking a solo turn as Sykes.
A great first impression, he delivers 11 tracks of delicious
beatronics which explore many moods, most being
in a rather energetic vein. The tunes themselves may
sometimes have an "elevator music" quality, but backed
by catchy, smartly-rendered rhythms, this elevator only
goes up! The downtempo grooves begin right away as let my
mind wander merges cool beats with subtle sax riffs
and twinkling xylo-tones; a short lull introduces streaming
strings atop quieter tropical-flavored rhythms. Mercifully brief
turntable antics lead to swaggering drums which are met
with wispy synth chords and a boppy bassline in everything
i dreamt i saw happen as lead keys trill occasionally. Entering
beatlessly, flawless secrets soon enough steps into an
action-oriented mode as spirited e-percussion stirs a
smooth lounge act of string, light guitar tweaks and some
sophisticated ivory tinkling. Strutting down some forgotten
city avenue, lore & disorder is notable for its softly crooned
lone-voice street-gospel phrases entwined with brass
and beats. Adeptly scattered piano notes trickle through
a glowering fogbank of espionage, to rendezvouz with a
lightly spattering wash of cymbals. A bold synth presence
overtakes the proceedings as scritchy beats pound
against a veil of symphonic strings. missing people
disappears into a buzzily surging cloud which emits a
shower of flailing drums and ominous overtones. Opening
on borrowed boys-in-the-band chatter, paper (3:28) tears
through a funky Motown-style funfest complete with whirling
Wurlitzer sounds and a poppy retro-rhythm.
A dreamier mood wafts through past futures (part 1) (7:43);
steady drumming pulses through a latticework of xylophonic
notes and a stair-climbing tonal progression. Tribal
influences are evident in the clattering drumwork which
empowers the shifting synthdrifts and bass pulsations
of dunes. Brassy currents sweetly flow from interactivity
and golden layers swell in past futures (part 2); the only
beatless piece closes the disc on a zig-zagging
cycles of notes and chords. Smooooth! (Almost)
everpresent, but never-overbearing, beats build a
stylish structure upon which Sykes drapes his light
e-melodies. These ears see I Witness as one of the
coolest grooves around. Such a good time
deserves a 9.0.