- Like his long-term studio collaborator Ethyl, Jamie Taylor's productions as Flori roam the hinterland between house and techno. His sound is warm but not cloying, stripped down but far from simplistic. And, as his second solo EP for Secretsundaze vividly displays, it's very, very deep.
Taylor has solid credentials. After learning his trade playing at Soul Underground, a long-running West Midlands soul night run by his parents, he embarked on a sound engineering and production course (where he met Ethyl). This may explain his adroitness with rhythm and percussion. Snares impact with a hefty punch, hi-hats have a satisfying crunch—the groove, it seems, is everything.
On "What Is It," tightly wound toms and gnarled kicks are eventually draped in a synth veil, before the drums once again take over. It's a wonderfully woozy, mid-afternoon terrace kinda tune. The tool-like "Drum 1," which is heavy on the woodblocks and analogue bass, takes the tempo down. "Unsettling" lives up to its billing by juxtaposing jabbering percussion and galloping hi-hats with malevolent minor keys. Taylor may have soul deep in his heart, but his music has a deliciously dark coating.
トラックリストA What It Is
B1 Drum 1
B2 Unsettling