Natural Self – The Art Of Vibration

Artist: Natural Self
Title: The Art Of Vibration
Label: Tru Thoughts
Catalog#: TRUCD162
Style: Trip-Hop, Instrumental, Soul-Jazz, Breaks, Future Jazz, Downtempo

Tru-Thoughts的挖掘新人能力的确惊人，Natural Self去年在Breakin’ Bread (UK)发过一张The Love Theme之后，就进入TRU的视线了。今年早先TRU出的精选shapes 08:01和Nostalgia 77的One Offs, Remixes & B-Sides都有他的身影。这张基本秉承了TRU的传统，优雅的Soul女声，中规中矩的beat，张张都非得听出点儿什么惊喜来太勉强了，对自己对艺人都一个意思，no news is good news吧咱还是。

Tracklist:
01. Introduction (1:19)
02. Welcome To The Ascension (3:06)
03. The Rising (feat Andreya Triana) (4:17)
04. In The Morning (4:01)
05. Alright Turn It Up Now (4:55)
06. Faultlines (3:40)
07. Breathe Deep ( feat Abdominal) (4:12)
08. Ghost In The Machine (3:11)
09. The Crush (3:25)
10. The Laws Of Motion (4:42)
11. Feet Keep Moving (3:06)
12. Another Land (3:43)
13. Alexander And Gabriel (4:24)

Release Note:

Hitting you with incredible beats, infectious hooksand punchy horns ‘The Art Of Vibration’ by NaturalSelf encompasses a diverse range of influences andmoods, with accomplished songwriting andproduction. Guest vocals are provided by eminentsoul singer Andreya Triana and MC Abdominal.

Natural self loves a good introduction (and in hisown words, “There’s nothing wrong with being a bitover the top about it either!”). From theattention-grabbing intro right through to theheartfelt tenderness of the final track “Alexandra& Gabriel” – a sweet dedication “to a beautifulwoman and her baby boy” – ‘The Art Of Vibration’presents the impressive sum of the variousevolutionary twists and turns in Natural Self’smusical development so far.

Whilst this is the first full length solo albumfrom Natural Self on Tru Thoughts, Nathaniel Pearn,the man behind the Natural Self moniker, haspreviously received acclaim for the 2006 album”Gravity” – the collaboration with his label-mateNostalgia 77 under the name The Broken Keys – and ahandful of 7? singles on Tru Thoughts. He releasedhis debut album on Breakin’ Bread Records, also in2006, and has a number of years’ experience as askilled DJ, recently guesting alongside Mr Scruffat his Brighton residency.

“The Rising” is the first single from this albumand has received rapturous reactions to date. Agreat behemoth of a track, the idea behind it isthe gods lamenting the behaviour of the humans intheir treatment of the planet. A powerful, chantedchorus, featuring Pearn on vocal duties, gives wayto captivating lead vocals written and performed byAndreya Triana, with an impossibly tasty, heavy-hitting hip hop beat (with a dubstep lilt and somecheeky snares in there for good measure) drivingstraight through the middle. Andreya Triana,definitely one to watch, is currently co-producingher first self-penned album with Bonobo.

The punchy horn stabs which permeate “The Rising”and many tracks on this album give a taste of theold-school funk music that has played such aconsistently important role in Natural Self’smusical inspiration, and call to mind some of hisearlier work, such as his collaborations with AliceRussell. Club tracks and dancefloor gems abound,namely in the form of “In The Morning”, a feel-goodsummery club tune featuring Pearn and AndreyaTriana on vocals and Ben ‘Nostalgia 77? Lamdin onGuitar.

In “Alright Turn It Up Now” the horns are out inforce, piled on top of viciously crafted beats andcreating layer upon layer of fiendishly catchyhooks and breaks. A definite dance music-inspiredtrack, but in Natural Self’s own imprint. Incontrast, the raw feel of “Faultilines” gives thesense of a musical journey with the essence of thegrind of daily life, and the track continues tobuild in various layers of percussion and bass.This track is undeniably gritty and gratuitous -”Almost ugly. A crude bastard of a tune.” saysPearn, gleefully – but it also has a tropical,rhythmic feel.

On “Breathe Deep”, the charismatic MC Abdominal,who has previously worked with DJ Format on moreuptempo business, handles this slow and deep beatwith ease and skill in the more downtempo secondhalf of the album. A space-age theme bubbles upthroughout “Ghost in the machine”, “The Crush”(‘Robot sex music’, according to Pearn) and “TheLaws Of Motion” which variously sound cosmic, spunout and futuristic. Pearn provides the vocals on”Feet Keep Moving” having got into singing byaccident during the Broken Keys album (when theoriginal vocalist was unable to do it) and it isnow something he would like to pursue further, andrightly so judging by this performance.

“The Art Of Vibration” is the culmination ofboundless appreciation of hip hop, funk, soul andclub music, an uncanny talent for crafting killerbeats and an inspired desire to experiment and takethings further, representing a giant step forward -and a tantalising sign of more gems to come. Aswell as the CD, the album is available as a special6-track LP with full CD album inside.