The world of dance music and hip-hop tends to be very much technology-driven. Many of the hip-pop artists are wordsmiths, rather than musicians, so they take advantage of the technology to automate the creation of the beats they use. Take away the words, and there is virtually nothing to listen to, just the electronic sequences. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, and this week we have a particularly interesting one. His name is Sam Redmore, and his new release is called Modulate.

Sam Redmore is from Bristol, England, and started as a dance DJ, spinning records and doing remixes to make dance sequences. But along the way, he decided to make his own music, and began to move in that direction on this 2022 album Universal Vibrations, which soon began to attract attention, especially in the UK. He worked with a number of collaborators, including rappers and singers to create an interesting, and more organic mix.

The new album Modulate goes further, and borrows a wide range of influences, and features a full band with real horns and strings, and draws on influences ranging from Afro pop to Salsa, to 1970s disco, to create an album that is very danceable, often downright fun, and musically quite interesting. While some of the material is instrumental, the guest vocalists avoid the usual rap or dance topics, and often have some worthwhile observations, including a strong strong statement on climate change, and the forces trying to thwart needed climate action.

Although the record is being promoted as electronic dance, it certainly sounds like mostly traditional instruments, like real drums, the horns and small string section that resembles the string arrangements on disco records from back in the day. For dance tunes, the tracks tend to be short, generally four or five minutes long, so they don’t get monotonous if you’re not on the dance floor. And the different vocalists and rappers who appear provide a nice variety of approaches. There’s funk, soul, the aforementioned disco influence, African and Latin influence, and at the same time, the album avoids the heavy tune-less musical setting of most hip-hop.

Opening is an instrumental called Pride which could be straight out a 1970s disco, including the staccato-sounding string arrangements. One could almost imagine a video with John Travolta. <<>>

One of the highlights of the album is a piece called Home with guest vocalist Dele Sosimi, that shows shows an appealing take on African influence. The home in question in the lyrics, is Lagos, Nigeria. <<>> The track takes a clever detour into Brazilian percussion, adding a further bit of spice. <<>>

A vocalist going by the name Lumi HD, appears on a song called What Would You Do that heads into American soul territory, but with a Latin-influenced beat. <<>>

Another of the dance instrumentals is called Glow which also does a great job of mixing influences from retro soul and funk to some world music textures. There’s a heavier presence of the electronic keyboards, but the horns and strings keep it organic. <<>>

Perhaps the most memorable track on the album is called Mother Earth. A rapper named Abdominal provides a lesson on climate change, while the musical backing is old fashioned funk with largely acoustic instruments. <<>>

The most intense track is one called Good Vibes which combines several of the guest vocalists on the album. Once again, the groove is solid but has a lot of interesting musical touches. <<>>

Redmore and his musical colleagues go all out Latin and Salsa-influenced on another of the album’s high points, El Camino with a guest vocal by Ella Coleman, singing in Spanish. It cooks with an irresistible dance groove. <<>>

British DJ, and remixer-turned-composer Sam Redmore has created one of the most intelligent, interesting and downright enjoyable dance-oriented albums that I have heard in quite a while. He mixes influences readily from hip hop to salsa to reggaeton to disco to retro soul, and makes it all work. And he does it with mostly traditional instrumentation, along with a few more contemporary electronic sounds. The various guest vocalists, from rappers to narrators to salsa singers also add to the fun melange that this album represents.

Our grade for audio quality is a “B.” The mix is fairly clean, but as is so often the case, the music’s impact is watered down by excessive volume compression, which makes everything seem flat and lacking in dynamics. What should be a strong punchy drum sound to propel the dance beat is just pushed into the homogeneous mix.

I am not usually a fan of dance records. If you’re not on the dance floor, they tend to be pretty boring musically. Sam Redmore combines adventurous musical eclecticism with a great groove to create a real gem.

(c) Copyright 2024 George D. Graham. All rights reserved.
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