Airport

Lover - Blondes - Blondes (2012, RVNG Intl)

Blondes quickly came to the fore of the emerging ‘hipster house’ movement after the release of three 12-inches last year— but don’t let the the label the blogosphere have slapped on their music turn you off it. Their debut self-titled LP, which combines their three earlier duality-themed 12-inches with two new tracks, is more than worth a listen.

Instead of clinically planning out and endlessly editing the tracks on Pro Tools until they sound ‘just right’, most of the tracks on this album are recorded all in one take, resulting in a sound more akin to a well-planned electronic jam session. One could label moments on the album mistakes, were it all meant to be lined up, quantised and nit-picked in a DAW. But it’s that freshly human production, combined with the way they subtly build and layer each track to a satisfying apex, before bringing in back down again just as competently, that makes this album quite special.