TQIF: Will Holland, Take Over The World?!

Image bitten from the funny/informative/hip/not-always-safe-for-work ttl blog

Bliss (Quantic Remix) – Rosie Brown
from 7″ on Wah Wah 45s (2003) also on 2CD One Offs Remixes and B-Sides on Tru Throughts (2006).

Bababatteur (Quantic French Remix) – Awa Band f/ Tony Allen
from 12″ on Soundway (2005) also on 2CD One Offs Remixes and B-Sides on Tru Throughts (2006).

Bomb In A Trumpet Factory – Quantic
from An Announcement To Answer on Tru Thoughts (2006).

The songs and artists on this site get lots of deserving praise and that makes sence because we’re featuring things we think are really feeling. However, when it comes to Will Holland I’m just running out of superlatives. Let’s cut it short and say this cat is an absolute genius. He’s mad young for how prolific and consistent he’s been relasing multiple solo albums as Quantic that have matured from excellent bed-room beat maker into a producer of fine dance tracks featuring uber-layered mutli-rhythmic percussion and great horn, guitar, and vocal work with a funk and(/or) Latin flair. He also composes, plays in, and arranges for live funk act Quantic Soul Orchestra. On top of that he’s made a few rare funk mixes and compilations to flex his diggin’ skills. And he’s a great listen as a DJ (caught him in SF earlier this year). Oh and there’s the remix work and the Limp Twins collaboration (whew!). Now he has a new Quantic album that is again fire, so here’s three tracks with which to Thank Quantic It’s Friday.

The remix of Rosie Brown’s breakbeat soul track “Bliss” is so inventive with double-time drums and a time-shifted bass-line that seems to move backwards at times. That beat just controls your dance movements like a puppet: start, shuffle, slow-mo, stop, speed up, groove, on and on. The other remix up is an Afro-beat-ish dance re-work of Awa Band’s “Bababatteur.” This is one of my favorite pick ups of the last year and the single features the excellent original in English and French as well as both lingual-leanings of Quantic’s rework. Tell me these bass-lines and vocals are stuck in your head for the rest of the weekend, and I’ll be surprised.

Finally, “Bomb In A Trumpet Factory” if off the just released new album An Anouncement to Answer. It is the most straight up funk sounding of the tracks on that excellent disc, which otherwise has a heavy Carribean and Latin flavor. The opening horn bumps actually have a decidely bop-ish flair to them which fits beautifully with all the jazz I’ve been listening to recently as well. I’ll stop gushing just as soon as I encourage you to take out Quantic’s site, which is cleanly and elegantly designed and features a very comprehensive discography for the completist nerderati.