Bleep

Glaswegian label Huntleys & Palmers provided one of the surefire surprise aces of the first part of 2012 with fellow Glaswegian Brian d’Souza aka Auntie Flo’s follow up to his hotly tipped ‘Goan Highlife’ EP. With ‘Future Rhythm Machine’, d’Souza further explores his affection for pan-global flavours, serving up eight tracks of percolating bass manipulations, lush Afro-futurism and catchy, groove-some appeal.

One wouldn’t usually associate the weathered climes of Glasgow with the sun-drenched humidity that pours out from d’Souza’s infinitely infectious debut, yet the Scotsman undoubtedly knows more than a thing or two about the bodysonic appeal of such a tropical hybrid. From the moment the opening track ‘Haven’t Got Any Body’ lifts off, energy levels are optimised with a swinging picked-string rhythm, futurist, soaring FX, shaking hand drums and the vocal help of Chilean singer, Mamcita. Elsewhere, ‘La Samaria’ swings with pendular weight between the sexed-up sounds of cumbia and a more eerie sense of placing, created with screeching effects and haunting distant howls, whilst ‘I Want to Blow Your Mind’ is a high octane, uptempo frenzy replete with shuffling percussion and vocal shrieks of sheer delight. The rest of the album continues in a similar vein in a wild blur of colour and sunshine - a series of afro-instrumentals inspired from the sounds of highlife to kwaito house, and fully charged with addictive energy. A debut to behold....