Ash
Walker – Augmented 7th (Deep Heads)
CD
/ DL
Out
Now
8.5
/ 10
DJ
and musician release his debut album.
Already
championed by the likes of BBC6 Music luminaries Tom Robinson, Don Letts and
Gideon Coe, Ash Walker is making quite a name for himself. Quite rightly so if this debut album is
anything to go by.
He
seems from the evidence here to be able to adapt to almost any musical
genre. Augmented 7th
contains dub, reggae, jazz, trip-hop electronica, you name it it’s probably
here. With the varying style it
obviously makes for an intriguing album.
It is, and a fine one at that.
The
album opens, curiously with his Agnostic EP from earlier this year. In the same running order too before it
launches into two singles Six Eight and Noodle.
Cote De Boeuf is a mysterious affair full of atmosphere and carried
along by a heavy basslines and some subtle dub sounds, occasional effects and
echoes join the fray in an almost Egyptian sounding melody.
Bamboo
Circus starts straight into a dubbed line with a reggae beat flowing throughout. With vocals from Segilola its comedic laughs
and endless reverb is nothing short of delightful and is one of the many album highlights. With melodica from Nikolaj Torp Larsen of The
Specials on Round The Twist the superb dubs continue in an almost Ghost Town Pt
2 effort.
His
past works with the likes of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, David Rodigan and The Specials
have obviously been big influences and his ability to craft often quite brilliant
music has to be applauded. They Do Not
Know Yet and Six Eight follow a jazzy feel whilst a more experimental slow and
easy approach to Noodle, Long Arms and Come On Board sits nicely in the centre
of the album.
The
run-in to end of the album takes on a very professional and gripping take. Imagine parts of Faithless’ Sunday 8pm album
and you won’t go far wrong. An Ash remix
of All That You Are by Seb Samuels and Rowl is particularly reminiscent, and
despite its slightly annoying replication of a crackling vinyl record, is a
quite beautiful piece of work.
Album
closer, Lost Cranium written and performed by Walker and the albums executive
producer Zeb Samuels again keeps a mellow feel and brings everything to a satisfying
end.
Links
Deep Heads
Ash Walker on Soundcloud
Ash Walker on Twitter
Ash Walker on Facebook
Lee 'Scratch' Perry on hiapop Blog
Published on Louder Than War 28/10/15 - here
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