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Nicole Willis, Soul Makeover (Sähkö): Going
heavy on the eyeliner, Nicole Willis hooks up with her husband,
Finnish funk/jazz space-cowboy Jimi Tenor, and his favorite
remix-hand, syncopated-house producer Maurice Fulton. This
ménage à trois delivers an album of chilled,
breezy, occasionally uneasy re-styled soul for Tenor's first record
label Sähkö, the haven of abstract electronics run by Pan
sonic's Mika Vainio. The album comes from way out in left field at
the super-slick electro cut-ups of the likes of Aaliyah and Destiny's
Child, while still working as a straight-up soul record. For a soul
"makeover" it has an authentically old sound, with warm electrics,
compressed tape loops and sweeping strings dancing over the beats,
even as it stylistically flits through mixes of acid, down-tempo
house, '70s fusion, Philly soul, girl-group grooves,
Sähkö-styled minimalism, and even echoes of Finnish
avant-jazz. — Anthony Carew
copyright (c) 2001 michael goldberg | design by elephantcloud
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