Elmore Judd – Insect Funk

Angel Sound Elmore Judd is the alter ego of one Jesse Hackett – brother of Louis Slipperz, keyboard player for Raw Dog and co-producer of many of Taskforce’s works, he is also a session keyboard player who has worked with, amongst others, Barrington Levy and Miss Dynamite.



We’d heard tales long ago of strange noises eminating from his house during studio down-time – sounds which didn’t seem to quite sit right with the MCs he was working with but that nevertheless struck awe into anyone that heard them.



Angel Sound is Elmore’s first solo outing and features collaborations with new vocalists Ias Balaskas and Fae, session musician brothers Adriano and Dario Rosseti Bonell and Jade Fox’s Tom Skinner, widely regarded as one of the UK’s most talented drummers.



With inspiration in evidence from Prince to The Specials, Jaydee to ESG and Mantronix to Axelrod, it is little surprise that the album is a somewhat multi-directional affair, especially considering it’s compact running time of under 45 minutes.



What is surprising is the fact that simultaneously, it sounds like nothing we’ve ever heard before. From the opening Birth of Elmore and Intro to Judd World, a corner is turned with every track. From instrumental cuts that fuse clipped Prefuse-esque electronics with Waajid’s sparse drum programming, to electro fused vocal psychedelia via punk-funk rock-out interludes and a wide-screen jazz opus, Elmore Judd’s is a schizoid existence.



If there is something that underpins Angel Sound it is a sense of the emergence of a very new Electronic Soul sensibility. Edgier and less romantic than the music emerging from the Philly Soul scene yet more soulful and song-based than the electronic hip-hop of the Lex camp, Elmore’s sound is distinctly British and totally fresh.



Elmore judd recentley visited Mali (West africa) with a group of musicians including Damon albarn (GORILLAZ), Scratch (THE ROOTS) and Jamie T. During his stay there he had the chance to play with some of the leading names in Mali music including Salief Keita, Tomani Diabate and Amadou and Mariam. Look out for future collaberations including a track on Scratch’s album due out early next year… Look out for future projects being released on the Honest Jon’s record label.