- House music can express the whole spectrum of human emotion. It can also—despite the clichés of so much uplifting house—convey joy at being alive while remaining enigmatic, something Axel Boman demonstrates on his debut album, Family Vacation. This leftfield exploration of house and related genres shimmers with an irrepressible enthusiasm, yet does so with wit and imagination.
As you might expect of a producer whose CV takes in labels as diverse as Pampa, DFA and Ovum, there is a lot going on in this jolly sprawl. This is house music as Gilles Peterson might define its broad parameters, a global exchange of ideas where Afrobeat and jazz, Italo disco, library music and '80s soul are as important as 4/4 beats. Boman can play it straight when he wants to—"Hello," a deliciously drowsy deep house track, could almost be Nina Kraviz. But he is too excitable to stick in that groove for long. He soon veers off into the warm, dub-disco of "No Sweden," and later onto the reggae-tinged "Animal Lovers."
Intentionally or not, Family Vacation harks back to the freewheeling, late '90s eclectic scene, which saw house, disco and instrumental hip-hop coming together in a chilled-out blend. The album's amazing lead single, "Fantastic Piano," could almost be Lemon Jelly at their most wistful. Meanwhile, the playful "Son Of A Plumber" has something of early Groove Armada or Röyksopp about it. It doesn't sound particularly cool. In fact, that is a big part of Boman's charm. Family Vacation sounds in no way calculated. Instead, it's honest, heartfelt and utterly uninhibited.
Tracklist01. Can’t Find It
02. Kings & Emperors
03. Fantastic Piano
04. Dance All Night
05. No Sweden
06. Let’s Get Nervous
07. Hello
08. Son Of A Plumber
09. Barcelona
10. Animal Lovers
11. New Krau Era
12. No! No! No! No!
13. Bottoms Up