Julio Bashmore - Everyone Needs a Theme Tune

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  • Perhaps the most finely stitched of all the Frankenstein monsters currently being assembled in the musical spare parts laboratory known as the UK, Julio Bashmore's bride is his bass. But, curiously enough for a Bristol boy, with all that homegrown talent available, he's eloped with an American. Before the metaphor gets silly, I'm talking about that envelope shape he's rather fond of, which issues bass as if from a gargantuan, pitch-bending tom-tom. In contrast to the garage leftovers of his compatriots, it's the very sound that Claude VonStroke called Dirtybird. No surprise, then, that the American label has been instrumental in nurturing Bashmore's budding career—an influence that abides on, but doesn't define, his inaugural EP for PMR Records. Is it too early to use a phrase like "quintessential Bashmore"? Almost definitely, but it has at least a hint of credibility in describing "Battle for Middle You." The expected West Coast bass sound bounces up and down in a British surrounding betrayed by the rave chords. A single electric cowbell ping with plenty of reverb gives the aural illusion that it's a dub track, though there's an understated drive in the hats that keeps the momentum on the right side of dopey. "Ask Yourself" at first appears a departure from this sound—it starts in a manner not unlike a Space Dimension Controller record—but about halfway through morphs into blissed-out booty bass with that same envelope making a casual cameo. It's about as soothing as a track with a constant offbeat hi-hat can get. The b-side really does chart new territory for Bashmore. "Everyone Needs a Theme Tune" is one of those "shuffle" pieces which feel like they're in 3/4 time thanks to plenty of triplets in the percussion. The title becomes relevant when you hear the electro-theremin-sounding melody and its jingle brand of catchiness—a theme tune of sorts. But it's the hip-hop-leaning "The Horn That Time Forgot" that steals the show with a scratch-like lead line, chords plucked from some moon safari and a bass that moves and massages in equal measure.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Battle For Middle You A2 Ask Yourself B1 Everyone Needs A Theme Tune B2 The Horn That Time Forgot
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