Donwload Only, Sonic360, 2005
www.sonic360.com
This is a download only release bought to you by www.sonic360.com. It’s the work of Jacob Grain whose has previously dabbled in the harder electronic sounds of the gabba and techno genres. This debut (under this name) is as far removed from gabba as you can get, we have a mish mish of glitchy beats juxtaposed with wistful, melancholic strings and lyrics. Lyrics are either delivered as sung English or as a more narrative German.
This album is the perfect accompaniment to chilled evening at home as the beats are far from overpowering but head noddingly infectious. Standouts tracks on the album for me would be “Big City Lights” with its dreamy latin acoustic guitar loop and “Velvet Lullaby” which utilizes similar guitar sounds. The track “Jimmy Brown” is a space age soul track that could be culled from a “This Is Soul 2029” compilation.
Overall “Granufunk” is proof in itself that electronic music can be funky and soulful as well as complex in it’s patterns, also an album that could have wider appeal than just from the usual electronic music fanboys/girls should it get the exposure that it deserves.
[7/10]
— Michael Hinchliffe