Wonderful words by the ever erudite Adam Turner. 

Sorcerer’s second album for Dream Chimney is a twelve track affair titled Bubble Funk, dedicated to the multiple pleasures of skateboarding, 70s funk, Balearic pop and the Tascam Portastudio. Sorcerer (Daniel Saxon Judd) is from California and much of the music here sounds very CA – top down, hair in the wind, bronze skinned, sun-kissed melodies with fat bass-lines over sampled drums. The curious thing about Bubble Funk is that the songs are so short, most coming in at under two minutes, some much closer to one minute and only one getting over three minutes (Four Track Master, a comparative epic, clocks in at 3.52).

There’s a lot going on and nothing is allowed to outstay its welcome although some of the sonics resurface from one song to the next. Zero Return sets off with a reverb laden drum and some choppy guitar, a bit of string bending, almost reminiscent of Isn’t Anything-era My Bloody Valentine, arrives for a few seconds and then vanishes. Afro Jazz clicks in on a pre-programmed drum pattern straight from the press of a keyboard button and the funky fretboard licks flit around. Three songs in and we’ve not even hit the five-minute mark yet as Irie Ites shows up, bubbling bassline and reggae rhythms. More 6-string bending, lots of colour and warmth. If you were a skateboarder and Bubble Funk was your Walkman / iPod / phone soundtrack you’d slow down for this one, kick your board up and take a breather. It’s followed by Pop Portals, a sub-two minute slice of shaker, and increasing axe distortion, almost finding time for a solo before a wash of synths take over.

Mellow Jazz Conga Pop is self-explanatory, and heads into Vini Reilly territory, FX pedals adding chorus and delay. The Balearic sounds are at the fore now, 78a Soft Dub an excursion into early evening sunset jams, slo-mo and lazy, with flash finger picking and cool keys. Just as you’re relaxing into it, it’s over and Tascam Funk appears, 90 seconds of thick bass and drum machine and more of those funky guitar licks. Eight songs and only quarter of an hour in, Freedom Rock Rainbow adds what isn’t much more than an interlude, while Confused Pop Tape takes up, the familiar themes and sounds bouncing around.

Four Track Master – that lengthy tune – is a rattling drum loop and more of that delayed FXed guitar, the song shifting pace as it alternates from one section to another. Sorceror lets this one extend a little but just as it seems to be settling into a groove it changes completely, breaking down into synth chords and deep bass for a coda. Fried Boogie follows, but not for long, the promised boogie only hanging around for 1 minute 40 seconds, with crashing power chords interrupting it a minute in and the drums suddenly turned up louder. It’s a track that’s both mellow and hyperactive. The album finishes with Disco Deep, working more whammy bar action over a four / four kick, before quickly fading out. All over.

Sorcerer’s Bubble Funk is out now on Dream Chimney.

You can find more proper, on point, prose from Adam Turner over at his own brilliant blog, The Bagging Area. Adam is also part of the admin at the mighty Flightpath Estate.