Adrian Younge: Presents Venice Dawn (Serato Control Vinyl) 12"

Adrian Younge, known for scoring Black Dynamite, creates "It's me," a heavy, dark and cinematic modern soul number with Rebecca Jordan on vocals. The track conjures up sounds from "the glory days of 70s soul" and fuses them with hip-hop aesthetics, aptly described as "a mix between Aretha Franklin circa 1969 and Wu-Tang circa 1992). Track two is "The Niacin," an instrumental track built on a dusty breakbeat that progresses into a "free-form jam session" featuring Shawn Lee and Michael Leonhart, and Calibro 35. Wax Po and Serato pressings have really set the bar high with this one, control tone on the flip and pressed on limited-edition chocolate wax. Recommended.

• music label: Wax Poetics Records 2011

reviewed by nakinboots 02/2012