Simian Mobile Disco – Delicacies review

It seems somewhat apt that Simian Mobile Disco releases this collection of Delicacies in the same week that the tenth edition of Kitsune’s Maison compilation drops; the duo of James Ford and Jas Shaw seemed ever present on earlier editions of the French boutique label’s annual collection circa 2006. Since those heady electro days led by the distorted riffage of Justeece, Simian Mobile Disco have drawn further away from this sound towards the raw primal techno thump that unfolds on Delicacies. Ostensibly this is a CD package rounding up all the vinyl-only tracks named after international exotic foods released by Ford and Shaw over the course of this year, and the nine tracks present demonstrate SMD in their element.

In no way is this Sunday afternoon easy listening material – the opening pressurised strains of “Aspic” make that perfectly clear, and the following eight tracks play out in similarly wall reverberating fashion. Resolutely hypnotic machine funk through and through that demands to be played in dark confined spaces with lots of speakers, the only drawback being watching SMD manipulate the tracks themselves as part of their special Records and Machine set is the best way to experience them. A welcome concession is made in the shape of an additional live studio mix CD containing all the tracks melded together by Shaw and Ford.

Tony Poland