Helene Dancer
CD OFTHEWEEK
LTJ Bukem does in his debut album just what Daisy Buchanan does to Jay Gatsby in F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby:he puts you in a little cloud and pushes you around.
United Kingdom musician and DJ LTJ “Danny Williamson” Bukem has this year released Journey Inwards on his Good Looking record label. The result is a generically Bukem collation of earthy basslines, satisfying jazz breaks and ephemeral melodies with the characteristic clean and intelligent ambient sound.
This is not prosaic electronica. Journey Inwards is, as its title suggests, conducive to introspection. The double disc boasts sweet drum’n’bass which is reminiscent of his Logical Progression collaboration with MC Conrad, who is, incidently, currently working on the fifth instalment of the reputable drum’n’bass compilation.
Journey Inwards also has a downtempo thread throughout with moments of soulful vocals, especially in the track Sunrain. Picture cirrus clouds backed by a deep blue sky and you have it.
All the tracks seem to melt into each other, creating a sticky mess of the sublime. Try and extricate yourself and you’ll be sucked straight back in when hit by another intricately produced and soul- satifying number.
Look out for the more incisive Our World. The cuts are clean and the voice sampling is Bukem-professional.
This 33-year-old musican had dabbled in many musical arenas and his influences extend from Roy Ayers to Curtis Mayfield and Wall of Sound’s Akasha. He’s been in the business since his major turntable debut in 1990, the same year he launched Good Looking.
So wait until the journey ends and guaranteed, the morning star will be shining in the violet sky. And in you.