Moodymanc名義でも知られるマンチェスターのDanny Wardによるオーガニックで心地良いバレアリック～トライバル作品！

30年にわたる多彩なキャリアを持つDanny Wardが、新プロジェクトBalaphonicで登場。パンデミック中のスタジオ実験とアフロ・キューバン/アフロ・ブラジリアンリズムへの愛が融合した、深みのあるサウンドスケープを展開する。

Dubble DやMoodymancとしての活動、20:20 Soundsystemのメンバーとして知られるWard。今回は打楽器を中心に、アコースティックと電子音を巧みに組み合わせた新境地を開拓。

『Sunflowers in Dub (Deep Summer Mix)』ではエキゾチックなシタールとダブ・ベースが、『Disorganics (All Strings Mix)』ではサンバのリズムとアコースティックギターが光る。後半の『Udders』や『Oxum』ではダンスフロア向けのグルーヴが前面に。

特に最終曲『Bloco Manco』は、ディレイのかかったラテン・ビートと重厚なダンスホール・ベースが圧巻。ヴァイナル盤の立体感ある音像が、細部までこだわった音作りをより鮮明に伝える。

NuNorthern Soulからリリースされるこの作品は、Wardの音楽的進化を如実に示す傑作。リスナーの心と身体を同時に揺さぶる、唯一無二の音楽体験がここにある。

A1. Sunflowers In Dub [Deep Summer Mix] 
A2. Disorganics [All Strings Mix] 
A3. Six Fingers 
B1. Udders 
B2. Oxum feat. Ocean Waves Brasil 
B3. Bloco Manco 

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Danny Ward’s 30-year career has been far from predictable. While best known for the musical eclecticism of his Dubble D project, the dance floor-focused nous of his work as Moodymanc and as a member of the groundbreaking 20: 20 Soundsystem, Ward’s bulging CV also includes stints drumming for artists as diverse as Fila Brazillia, Rae & Christian, and The Pharcyde, to Jazz luminaries Mat Halsall and Nat Birchall, alongside countless collaborations (Flora Purim and Nightmares on Wax to name but a couple) and numerous evenings spent adding live percussion to DJ sets at iconic Leeds club night Back To Basics.
 
Now the long-serving Manchester musician and producer has a new project to share via NuNorthern Soul: Balaphonic. Inspired by a mixture of lockdown-era studio experiments, online collaborations, his long-held love for Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian rhythms and a desire to do things differently, Resolution Revolutions is a gorgeously sonically detailed and immersive album that takes Ward’s musical output to a whole new level.
 
Like many musicians, Ward used the forced lockdowns of the global COVID-19 pandemic to retreat to his basement studio and make music. Focusing on utilising all of the acoustic and electronic tools at his disposal – not least his beloved percussion instruments – Ward took the opportunity not only to draw on a wide range of musical influences and ideas, but also rhythms, grooves and time signatures. As well as composing new tracks from scratch, he also revisited older compositions with fresh eyes and ears. 
 
The results are simply stunning. Ward sets his stall out via the exotic, slow-burn Balearic warmth of ‘Sunflowers in Dub (Deep Summer Mix)’, where echoing whistles, harmonica motifs, sitar sounds, and cascading piano motifs rise above dub-wise bass and seductive, soft-focus beats. The heady, eyes closed vibe continues on the sunrise-ready awakening of ‘Disorganics (All Strings Mix)’, a samba-soaked summer shuffle rich in sparkling acoustic guitars and infectious Latin percussion, and the fretless bass-sporting Afro-Cuban yearning of ‘Six Fingers’. 
 
As Resolution Revolutions progresses, Ward’s deep love of club-adjacent and dancefloor-focused rhythms subtly comes to the fore. There’s ‘Udders’, a hybrid – and hypnotising – fusion of chopped-up South American percussion, marimba-style melodic motifs, looped bass and spacey electronics, and Ocean Waves Brasil collaboration ‘Oxum’, a mid-tempo Afro-Brazilian deep house number wrapped in deliciously dreamy chords and gentle acid lines. 
 
Similarly impressive and inspired is closing cut ‘Bloco Manco’, where Ward peppers a delay-laden Latin beat and a deep, weighty, dancehall style bassline in waves of echoing hand percussion and restless timbales patterns. Stripped-back, raw and seriously sub-heavy, it provides a jaw-dropping conclusion to one of Ward’s most perfectly formed albums yet. 
 
Feedback: 
 
FRANCOIS K / BODY & SOUL 
Send lossless files please. 
 
DOMENIC CAPELLO / SUB CLUB GLASGOW 
Great work from our Danny. 
 
ERIC DUNCAN / RUB N TUG 
Yes please. 
 
BILL BREWSTER / NTS RADIO 
Sunflowers and Udders both v nice. 
 
CHRIS COCO / MELODICA RADIO 
Beautifully atmospheric, fave track Oxum. I’m on the beach already. 
 
ZEYNEP ERBAY / COMPOST 
Great Ep, very engaging, well-crafted! NuNorthern Soul Forever! Thank you! 
 
HOT TODDY / CRAZY P 
Oh yeah, this is good! 
 
RARESH 
Nice one. Please send me the wavs 
 
LARS BEHRENROTH / DEEPER SHADES OF HOUSE 
Cool stuff. 
 
CRAIG SMITH / 6TH BOROUGH PROJECT 
What fantastic release. Loving all the cuts on this. 
 
SHANE JOHNSON / FISH GO DEEP 
Love what’s going on here! Engaging and immersive sounds with a unique overall vibe. Will feature on this week’s show. 
 
KEVIN REYNOLDS / YORUBA 
The attention to detail is what is striking on this album. Sounds incredible and a great 
 
PAVEL PLASTIKK / LOW OSLO 
Beautiful laidback carnival record! Bloco Manco is sick!!! 
 
MAX ESSA / BONOBO JAPAN 
Sublime textures and cinematic atmospherics combine to blissful effect, love it! 
 
DAMIAN LAZARUS 
Nice vibes here! 
 
TAKAYA NAGASE / LOUIS VEGA CREW 
It sounds like a journey. Beautiful album. 
 
JAMES FRIEDMAN / THRONE OF BLOOD 
This is killer! 
 
BILLY SCURRY / TEMPLE OF SOUND, DUBLIN, IRELAND 
Such beautiful and evocative tracks, which sound really at home on NNS. Strings mix is so beautiful, Six Fingers is rhythmically hot and Ocean Waves full of depth. Thank you, this is sublime. 
 
TREVOR FUNG / THE PROJECT 
What a fab release. All tracks for me. 
 
YOSHI HORINO/  UNKNOWN SEASON 
Dope album. Really nice modern exotic sounds. Love the atmosphere. Full support Danny! 
 
LUCA ROCCATAGLIATI / DJ ROCCA 
Great balearic stuff for next summer. Really love the dream house approach on Oxum!! 
 
BEN DAVIS / PAPER RECORDINGS 
Oh aye, love love love this. Fresh as you like and pulling all the influences together for something brand new. Cap doffed Danny! 
 
KEREM GOKMEN / WYEP 
My jaw dropped reading about all those artists Danny Ward has worked with, what a lineup!?!? Listening to this new one it reminded me a bit of Afterlife’s music you previously shared on Subatomic, in fact at one point I went over to NuNorthern Soul’s Bandcamp page to see if Afterlife and Balaphonic were all on the same imprint, but alas they’re not. Balearic heaven is how I’d describe this to someone if they said what is this that you’re listening to, intricately-woven songs that sound so light on the ear, who would turn this musical offering down. My favorites are the Sunflowers In Dub, Six Fingers, and Oxum.