Jimmy Edgar’s debut on Hotflush Recordings is a journey through the sounds of the 80’s but with a futuristic edge. Unfortunately it all sounds a little too much like its predecessor.
Two years after the release of XXX on !K7 Recordings, Detroit producer and photographer Jimmy Edgar debuts on Hotflush Recordings with Majenta. Like its predecessor, Majenta is firmly rooted in the nostalgic territory of bubbling 80’s synth-lines, plenty of processed vocals and dry, robotic rhythms.
Some obvious nods to 80’s can be found in Too Shy which bass-line bears a striking resemblance to the one of Kraftwerk’s We Are the Robots. The album closing track In Deep emulates parts of Moments in Love by Art of Noise. And Heartkey is an excursion into the bleepy world of 8-bit sounds.
The album's first single This One’s For The Children is a slice of driving, sleazy Motorcity electro funk (think a pitched-down Mr. De’). Indigo Matrix combines futuristic rhythms with retro jazz-funk riffs, sped up vocals snippets and vintage R&B vocals. They’re both nice tracks but don’t really stand out or expand the sonic scope of the album. Two short tracks (Attempt to Make It Last and Hrt Real Good) are two mid-tempo electronic R&B tracks with soulful vocals. Both sound like works in progress or sketches waiting to be finished.
Although the album has a crisp production, beats as dry as a dessert and a colorful palette of 80’s sounds, the individual tracks rarely break the mold or do an unexpected 180. And the vocal processing, whether robotic, flanged, vocodered or treated by talk box is just bit too omnipresent.
Although most tracks on Majenta lack a bit of that extra creative oempf - when taken in small doses, Majenta is a nice retro-futuristic document.
6/10 – Patrice Knap
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