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Album Reviews
Album Review: Akabu – The Phuture Ain’t What It Used To Be (Z Records)
By Paul Vig | Published on Monday 23 August 2010
Akabu is yet another moniker for Dave Lee, aka Joey Negro or Sessamato or Raven Maize or Jakatta or Doug Willis, amongst others. This UK-based producer’s music output is as prolific as his range of names, and he was arguably responsible for giving us the genre of disco house. I’ve seen him perform live with his Sunburst Band and take to the decks to DJ, and in both guises he impresses.
So, needless to say, I had high expectations for this album. To be honest, on first listen they really weren’t met. And while it has improved with repeat listening – some of these tracks are definitely growers – this album is still a bit of a mixed bag.
It’s at its best when Lee is taking us into the old school. In that vein, ‘Crystalised’ is awesome, with its nasty acid tweaks, thumping beat and moody vocals. The nice and spacious ‘Little Bit Of Kaos’ is also a great track, even if the intro is rather long, while the beatsy, minimal ‘Hi Jaxx’ is definitely worth checking out. Elsewhere, ‘Another World’ is classy, with its John Barry-esque sweeping vibe, and ‘Another Generation’ is ubercool – with plenty of little acid tweaks and beats that make this the stand out track for me.
But in amongst that lot there’s some more average stuff. ‘You Want It All’ falls into this category. ‘Behind Whe Mask’ is a little tad drab, while ‘Heatwave On Mars’ is a touch bland. So, enough good stuff to ensure the Dave Lee brand – in all its incarnations – is capable of still impressing, though not enough good stuff to make this long player stand out. PV
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