Mo Kolours – Mo Kolours
Artists that genuinely defy categorization are, in all honesty, a rarity, and it’s become somewhat clichéd to describe a producer’s output as “genre-straddling” or “impossible to pigeonhole”. More often than not this is journalistic code for “surprisingly eclectic”, or a sly indication that the writer is simply lost for words in the face of the kind of musical fusions that baffle and delight in equal measure. Mo Kolours, though, does genuinely defy easy categorization. His music is refreshingly different, thoroughly eccentric and, with the odd exception, utterly brilliant. Describing tracks becomes pointless; it’s easier to reel off a list of obvious influences than it is to accurately reflect the warmth, depth, honesty and soul of his sumptuously scratchy sonic world.
It seems amazing, given the quality of the music he’s released to date, that Joseph ‘Mo Kolors’ Deenmamode is still something of an underground enigma. The half English, half Mauritian producer has averaged an EP a year since the release of his excellent debut EP, Drum Talking in 2011. Each release has been packed with short sketches and barely developed tracks – baked mood pieces that veer from tropical/hip-hop fusions and sample-heavy collages to hazy dubwise explorations, horizontal house, glitch-hop experiments and quick fire bursts of off-kilter ambience. It’s no wonder critics have struggled to find accurate pigeonholes in which to place his output.
Deenmamode is either a rare talent or suffering from attention deficit disorder. On the evidence of this eponymous debut album, we’d argue that he falls into the former category. Mo Kolours is dizzyingly inventive, offering a kaleidoscopic collection of blunted, often horizontal compositions that come and go at breakneck speed. With tracks varying in length from a matter of seconds to a positively extensive three minutes, there’s little time to get accustomed to any particular groove. In the wrong hands, this scattergun approach could be infuriating; in the case of Mo Kolours, it enhances the whole stoned, off-kilter experience.
For all the influences – listen carefully, and you’ll here nods to dusty dub reggae, British reggae-funk explorers Cymande, African rhythms, traditional Mauritian sounds, calypso, jazz, neo-soul, Prince Paul style sample-digging, Haitian tropical psychedelia and even the hazy deep house of Moodymann – Deenmamode is basically a beatmaker – and an extraordinary one at that. Dilla and Madlib are obviously huge influences, but you’ll also hear nods to the L.A glitch-hop scene in the warped bass pressure and wonky beats of the superb “Natural Disasters Wish List”.
Deenmamode’s beats are never less than superb. Surprisingly, he’s as comfortable dropping an intense, intoxicating African groove (“Afro Quarters”) and out-there, delay-laden MPC dub riddim (the deliciously sweet “Love For You (Humbeat)”), as he is letting go on a fat, loose hip-hop beat (the low-slung tropical dub of “Say Word”). Onto this brilliant backing Deenmamode layers all manner of heady musical treats. More often than not, this takes the form of minimal instrumentation – some sampled, others played – and a combination of his low-key, effortlessly soulful singing and some curious mumbling. It shouldn’t work, but it sounds sublime.
With tracks coming and going with such breathless regularity, picking highlights is tricky. That’s not to say they’re not there – check the deep soul pulse of “Mike Black”, bizarre calypso-soul ditty “My Little Dog”, and head-nodding masterpiece “Play It Loud In Your Car”, for starters – but rather that Mo Kolours should be assessed as one continuous whole. Think of it as a kind of old-fashioned mixtape, with Deenmamode as host, composer, curator and star. Judged on these terms, it’s blindingly good.
Matt Anniss
Tracklisting:
1. Brixton House
2. Little Brown Dog
3. Curly Girly
4. Love For You (Humbeat)
5. Mike Black
6. Lighter Break
7. Say Word
8. Afro Quarters
9. Take Us (Interlude)
10. Streets Again
11. 16-bit Slaves
12. In Her Eyes (Funk Heart)
13. Child’s Play
14. Natural Disasters Wish List
15. Other Day House
16. Play It Loud (In Your Car)
17. Shepherd
18. Straight Ruk ft Jeen Bassa