It’s completely understandable why the Bristolian power trio of Joker, Gemmy and Guido would want to escape the term dubstep with all the wobbly ‘lads night out’ connotations it now attracts. However, on the evidence of Guido’s stunning ‘Anidea’ debut, their adopted alternative ‘purple wow’ isn’t really going to cut it either. This album is far too vivid and colouful to be shackled with a single shade or emotion, and it’s set a standard that his West Country bredren will do well to equal. Funkier than a pair of George Clinton’s week-old socks ‘Anidea’ is a breathtaking exercise in minimalism and mood that gets better with every play, barely dropping a step throughout the dozen tracks. While all of the quality dubstep signifiers are there in abundance, tracks like ‘Mad Sax’ and the sublime half-stepper ‘Take Me Higher’ have strong house elements, and there’s more than a whiff of sophisticated R&B in the vocal treatments throughout.
Personally having already thrashed the original instrumental to within an inch of its’ life I can’t help feeling a little ambivalent about Yolanda’s vocals plonked on top of ‘Way U Make Me Feel’, though it works superbly in the context of an album that has been programmed with precision and nous. Guido makes it sound ridiculously simple, yet anyone who has ever grappled with a minimal sound palate will know that just isn’t the case, and it’s impossible not to be floored by the unfathomably deep subs, crafty melodies and macroscopic sound design.
With powerful musical statements like the melancholy ‘Cat In The Window’ and the genuinely next level ‘Tango’ it’s hard to believe this won’t be a serious contender in the Best Of The Year lists, and justifiably so.
(Review by Jim P. for Extramusicnew)
Artist: Guido
Title: Anidea
Cat no: DRUNKCD003
Barcode: 5055317202000
Release Date: May 24th
Preorder at your Recordstore
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