mind fair: so strong EP.review

Mind Fair is Dean Meredith, he of Chicken Lips legend. I must confess, I didnt actually know this when I received this EP on the glorious Golf Channel, but it makes perfect sense after a few listens.

Heavy percussion and dubby horns kick the EP off on 'So Strong', a slice of beautifully produced organic disco that sweeps in and out of focus like a hazy childhood memory. Track 2, 'Bloody Mary', is a different proposition altogether – a tight, focussed synth arp pulses forward over a classic synth bass and a strict drum machine coming on like a forgotten Italo classic. The occasional arp stumble adds a human feel to the otherwise entirely mechanical production, its a dancefloor weapon.

On the flip Downtown Nubian starts with a vocal sample (which sounds like Nina Simone to me) before dancing claves and rolling percussion join the solid kick, bass guitar and rhodes tinkling to set the track off. It drives on, locked into a more-ish groove before funk horns join the party and pull you back into 1978. Breakdowns abound before an almost klezmer-like violin enters the fray. The Ep closes with Wrong Wire the most out-there piece on the EP, all squelching synths, sci-fi squiggles and animalistic squeels/dystopian vocal samples. Heavily overdriven guitar and a stop start groove give the track the feeling of a drug-induced nightmare, in the best possible sense, of course. Dont listen to it on shrooms and youll be OK.

The EP is gorgeous, each track is wildly different from the last but the heaviness of the production ties it all together perfectly. Yet another slice of gold from Golf Channel, whos hot streak seems endless. Buy this record.

Joe Evans