Various : Black to the future (FiveSix Recordings)

King Britt has contacts. Look at his CV : remixes and productions for everyone, from Jazzanova and Isley Brothers to Ursula Rucker and Angelique Kidjo. Look at his schedule : touring the world, DJing with the greats of house, broken beat, future funk and jazz. So when Britt opens his Rolodex to bring together people for a compilation, he's got his pick.

As a result, Black to the future is honored by the presence of a fine crop of both established artists and newcomers, spanning all genres of 'forward thinking' music -new breeds of soul and jazz, broken beat, hip hop and various electronic excursions and crossbreeds.

An absolutely stellar track is The Rebirth's funky anthem This journey in, hotly tipped by just about everyone in the know and already an utterly beautiful classic in its own right. Up-and-comers The Society team up with OvaSoul 7, who delivers deliciously soulful vocals on How's life, a gorgeous deephouse tip that lies somewhere between Vikter Duplaix, Amp Fiddler and Moodymann. Blacktronica man Charlie Dark delivers a choice cut with the synth bass, sexy moans and marching broken beat of Drums of passion. King Britt himself dives very deep in his Scuba guise, as punctured beats envelop echoing vocals by Imani Izuri on Bare naked. Tony Wa-Chu-Ku drops You know what you need to do, a little broken mover that wouldn't have been out of place in a broken beat-themed Knight Rider episode. Same goes for the excellent Capitol A, who throws down a minimalistic broken hip hop beat on Bring it back, much in the vein of Seiji and Lyric L's Loose lips. "This is one of those tracks you can't describe, even if you wanted," Capitol raps. 'Nuff said.

With so many tracks it will always be hard to sustain quality and some tunes do fare less well than others. 4Hero's Dego is most disappointing as he fails to push his promising collaboration with singer Face to the heights that we know he is capable of. Philip Charles shuffles around undecidedly on Open to suggestions before finally dropping into a nice keys suite with sax theme -we suggest that he extend and develop it further. Oba Funke's Afro Steppin has got the makings of a solid theme melody but relies on a thin layer of beats that don't drive the rhythm. DJ Dozia's Speaking in love is a fantastic deep slice of house, but with its spanish vocals and baleraric style it is hard to see where it fits in with all the broken ventures -deepness must be the common factor.

Black to the future is showcase album for better or worse, but manages to keep an impressive flow and coherence through the different genres and sounds. The compilation achieves its purpose of channeling the spirit that unites the artists on show and showing the ongoing evolution of electronic soul. Or providing"sultry prophecies and rhythmic avalanches of sound" as the liner notes explain. Thank you King Britt et al. Our 'discerning listening ear' is satisfied. Now what else would we do with our ears except listening?

Review by Nicolai Hartvig

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