- Would the real Lopazz please stand up? I mean, come on: with such a plethora of stylistically different releases in the past three years, you do have to wonder: Is the real Lopazz the Latin-tinged house guru of ‘Migracion’? The coffee-table, slo-mo house maestro of ‘Share My Rhythm’? The electro-house Savas Pascalidis collaborator on the recent ‘Fuck Me!’ E.P. on Gigolo Records? Or the frankly creepy kook behind the Output-sanctioned ‘I Need Ya’ and ‘Blood’? Kook Kook, Lopazz’s first official array in the long player format and Get Physical’s newest album recruit, won’t settle the question, but it will interest and puzzle in equal measures.
To be perfectly honest, on its first listen, Kook Kook sounds like nothing but a bunch of variations on the “Share My Rhythm” (included here) template: sophisticated and well-mannered house, warm and enjoyable enough but too reserved and soft-spoken to truly engage the listener in something more intense than quiet head doodling. After a while, though, it all starts to make some sort of dancing sense, and striking moments slowly emerge. If you avoid its pointless and utilitarian title and the fact that it is definitely too short (clocking in at less than three minutes, this one is begging for a remix or at least a re-edit), ‘Credit Card Receipt’, for instance, is truly a gorgeous little gem: opening with decorous, Get-Physical-by-numbers rolling beats, it quickly turns into seducing electro-colored house with an engaging and insisting melancholic melody worthy of early M.A.N.D.Y.. Recent single ‘2 Fast 4 You’, too, works very well, with its quirky vocals, its detailed production, and poppy shine. No wonder Get Physical released a 12” package with it and Booka Shade included the track on their recent ‘DJ Kicks’: bar ‘Heater’, it is the label’s catchiest cut this year.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album, albeit coming from the same professional and skillful hands, is just not as memorable: ‘Play in My House’ or ‘The Old Days’, for example, pull the Latin or deep male vocal cards on top of twirling synths but are just dawdling away. In truth, just like Samim’s recent ‘Flow’ for the label, ‘Kook Kook’ is a perplexing blend of successful ventures and more disposable wallpaper-like moments. In both case, though, this is inexplicable proof that Get Physical is still somehow struggling with the viability and the successfulness of the long player format.
Unless the albums are coming from Booka Shade, that is.
Tracklist01 Volvoice
02 Discogs
03 We Are
04 Bottleneck
05 Credit Card Receipt
06 Play In My House
07 The Old Days
08 Share My Rhythm
09 Wet Sweat
10 Wasted Days
11 2 Fast 4 You
12 Mp In Love