For a city that regularly tops the U.S. charts in crime and unemployment, whose name is a virtual synonym for urban decay (OK, I’ll stop now; not that a Memphian has much room to talk), Detroit keeps cranking out astoundingly talented artists and producers who lend their own idiosyncracies to the city’s towering musical legacy. Of late, Jay Dee, Slum Village and Platinum Pied Pipers have carved a deep niche for gritty, soulful hip-hop sounds; Carl Craig, John Beltran and Kenny Dixon Jr. (aka Moodymann) have rescusitated the the jazz underpinnings of house and techno, and Amp Fiddler has lent a Sly and the Family Stone-style maturity to the underground neo-soul movement. The list goes on, of course, and I obviously haven’t even touched on The White Stripes and the Ghostly International family, for instance. Or Dwele. Damn …
Overlooked so far — as rock has so dominated the indie mindset the past few years — has been Detroit’s contributions to the future groove scene, the nexus of jazz-funk and meticulously programmed rhythms that falls into the ill-defined category of “broken beat.” Recording as Ayro, keyboard and MPC maestro Jeremy Ellis made a splash on the international adult-dance scene in 2002 with his “ElectronicLoveFunk” LP on Omoa Music, featuring the singles “Let This” and “Drink.” Who was this red-headed white kid with the voice like Stevie Wonder, with the analog synths and Rhodes piano deftly arranged atop classic ’80s-techno drum sounds? Detroit’s answer to London broken dons like Bugz in the Attic and 4Hero, that’s who.
A year later, Ellis’s roommate, the guitarist John Arnold, released his “Neighborhood Science” on Ubiquity. Without a winning voice of his own, Arnold brought in a selection of vocalists like Malik Alston (“Inside”), Fiddler (“Get Yourself Together”) and Ellis himself (“Rough”) to top off his highly musical and engaging beat workouts. Now Arnold’s back and more confident than ever in his MPC and production skills. “Style and Pattern” is a burner from top to bottom, delving into Puerto Rican bomba (“La Cocina”), frenetic grime (the title track featuring TY), teched-out Afrobeat (“Jangal” with Pathe Jasse) and even two remixes of “Inside” from the previous LP (by Mr. Scruff and Henrik Schwarz, respectively).
You might never have heard of any of these guys, but that just goes to show how much talent there is under the radar in Tha D, and how that proud city’s reputation precedes it in attracting international artists. The guests are only the icing on the cake for Arnold’s dancefloor-ready productions, on which he generally played every instrument (all triggered via MIDI from his guitar; how cool is that?!). As Arnold points out in a short essay in the liner notes, “It is a very Detroit concept to do everything yourself, most of us don’t have a choice.”
Check out the first single from “Style and Pattern,” “Rise Up” featuring vocals by Paul Randolph, Fiddler’s bassist and a consummate showman who reminds one of the legendary Bootsy Collins. Catch a slight whiff of Tower of Power in the rolling groove and insistent horn charts, and watch out for that cowbell!
