Jamie Lidell
Jim
(Warp Records, 2008)

I’m not going to lie. I was turned off by the cover. It looked like some clubby electro-clash bullshit and hey, sometimes I can be fickle and make snap judgments. Luckily, ‘tis the responsibility of a music editor to at least throw the disc in the C-drive and listen to a few tracks before writing something off—thus, that’s what I did. And I was immediately, shall I say, hooked. Refreshed would be another good word to describe my reaction. What this was, for my weary ears getting way tired of all the neo-new wave and even psych-rock resurgence, was good ole funk and soul, with a consistently tasteful studio polish.

My bewilderment over the fact that this is a soul record is because Lidell has become known across the pond as a British electronica producer, with a descriptor of “sonic scientist” oftentimes following on the heels of his name, so I expected all sorts of electro experimentation and underground techno stuff. But Jim is indisputably a musical rebirth that evokes the gusto of old ‘60s soul while tempered on record with glossy production. His voice sounds fantastic and doesn’t even remotely hint at his electronic lineage, rather he sounds like he came straight from, oh, I dunno, a Memphis gospel choir or deep Southern blues joint.

Jim is a tight collection of 10 songs, each one quite unique, though the strongest, in my opinion, is the first track, called “Another Day”, which is a joyful, hand-clapping composition that has many elements of genuine soul—a cast of female background singers (a group of which Peaches and Nikka Costa are a part), flourishing horn accents, up-tempo piano, and Lidell’s voice carrying all of them home through the clean production with a boost of collective stamina that was clearly unleashed in the studio. “Wait for Me” is another joyful soul tune, animated and sparkly and every bit content, suggesting that Lidell has found his home on this record. I find myself tapping my foot, thinking he’d probably be pretty great live. I bet he sweats a lot.

“Out of My System” evokes the funk and vigor of Stevie Wonder, and the following, “All I Wanna Do”, brings to mind the neo-soul of Ray Lamontagne (such a rolling, pretty song, allegedly inspired by William S. Burroughs), while “Little Bit of Feel Good” I liken to, not surprisingly (as hinted by its title), James Brown, with sax and some cool production tricks revamping it for the millennium. The record is short enough to feel like a breeze of fresh air, though there are some lulls: I’m not too fond of “Green Light”, and the last track, “Rope of Sand”, comes out of left field, with Lidell’s now sobering voice demonstrating his versatility, but it’s not really indicative of the soul-thumping joy of the rest of the record. Perhaps not the strongest note to go out on.

Jamie Lidell lives in Berlin, which seems to be a capital for innovations in music and the marriage of the arts and culture within a heavily storied realm, darkness in the corners of its past, but also a city that forecasts illumination, and maybe it’s a stretch, but Lidell bridges the same sort of ideals in Jim, a perfectly balanced record that’s an outpouring of artistry and optimism but also with enough restraint to not be offensive or overwrought. A refreshing testament to a musician’s rebirth into a wide, warm world of soul and one that will likely find its way into your good graces without too much convincing.

Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

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