The only problem with this release is the extremely long name, so much so I am not even sure what to title it. That’s my critique any way, titles don’t necessarily have to be catchy or even easy to remember (I can’t remember a single Sigur Ros album title and never will no matter how much I love them), but titles shouldn’t confuse the buyer/listener in the way of not knowing exactly what to call it. You’ll see exactly what I mean right now.
Tummy Touch – Tim Love Lee and Shawn Lee (One might think Tummy Touch is the label and it is but it’s also the name of the artist yet Tummy Touch isn’t even on the cover) KPM (Label? What is it?) New York Trouble/Electronic Progression. All the underlined words involve the title and artist names. See what I mean…
So they have a minimalist album cover made to look like an old sound library album and a title that simply should be Tummy Touch – New York Electronic Progression. There we go I took care of that mess, there’s not much I can do for it on the cover though. But mostly I’m sharing it here for the music that appears on this album. If it wasn’t so damn enjoyable I might never have gotten around to it. Once again good music saves the day.
To explain KPM a little better will help describe the music, KPM is a very rare 1970’s vinyl series featuring rhythms and bass provided by the legendary Herbie Flowers and drummer Barry Morgan, the series which was titled Bass Guitar and Percussion Volumes 1&2 (Now that’s a title impossible to confuse anyone).
So Tim Love Lee and Shawn Lee somehow got their hands on this series and added all sorts of new music to it. This isn’t really sampling it is more like mashing new material over old, or in other words over dubbing.
Shawn recorded his set “New York Trouble” his London studio with Pierre Duplan, featuring musicians Andy Ross playing flute and saxes and Dominic Glover on trumpet.
Tim recorded his set “Electric Progression” in his hipster land Brooklyn studio “All Bright Electric” adding analog synths throughout.
What we get is a series of space funk jams, all of which are very fun and enjoyable, as well as perfect for use in live DJ sets.
I would call it more of a mash if they didn’t keep to the original era’s sound. If they decided to bring modern sounds to it they might have fallen into the trap most people fall into where they take old recordings, sample them and then destroy them with Dubstep, and then sit back and call themselves geniuses as their million checks come in the post. Let us all be very pleased that this is not the case with Tunny Touch, they did these recordings justice, so much so that I am convinced Herbie Flowers and Barry Morgan would approve highly of this album. Basically Tummy Touch revisited the recordings and then finished them. and it only took forty-odd years to do so.
Here is a little sampler of the New York Trouble/Electric Progression release.
Also I have an unreleased track separate from the album, it’s part two of the song on the album titled “Light Stakeout Party.”
Here is the full album for you to purchase either a digital copy, a CD or on vinyl.