Veröffentlicht
Sep 23, 2011Veröffentlicht
August 2011
- Guillaume Coutu Dumont's ethnic samples are his trademark, but his ability to charm with them that has set him apart from the main body of deep house over the last few years. The tracks on Ubiquitous Gaze may not do this as much as the best of his back catalogue (the monologue on the A is a case in point), but their forthrightness and less obvious touches ensure that they're far from drab. The juxtaposition between the powerful rolling of the drums and the blissed-out pads on the title track is nicely balanced, but there's just a bit more weight on the pads than you might usually hear, giving an effect of comfortable pressure. The bongo solo towards the end, meanwhile, isn't worthy of that cringe you probably just had reading about it.
The "Stringapella" is what you'd expect, but worthy of mention. Its rhythmic edges and harmonic shifts suggest possibilities for being layered over other material and key-controlled. "You're the One" is headier, but it finds a groove with a Hammond organ, washed out vocals and an inventive, springy bass motif, and runs with it. Although they may not be as out there as we've heard from Guillaume before, it's hard not to see these tracks holding clout.
Tracklist A Ubiquitous Gaze
B1 You're The One
B2 Ubiquitous Gaze (Stringapella)