Jamie Lloyd, May I?(Quarion remix)

February 5, 2008

uninvolved

[Future Classic] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3)

jamielloydSydney-based producer/vocalist Jamie Lloyd didn’t make much of a splash with Trouble Within, his 2006 debut album, at least in part because of distribution troubles. But his label, Future Classic, figured out a way to sidestep these issues by letting a raft of producers remix some of his best tracks. Last year I was impressed by Zwicker’s subtle retouch of “What We Have,” and this year Quarion’s “May I?” rework is making the rounds, giving Lloyd a profile outside of Australia. I have to admit Quarion’s Drumpoet debut left me underwhelmed, but seeing Lloyd’s name around again caught my attention; now, I’m rather glad it did.

Listen:

Quarion’s production unfolds in several stages, tucking away deep, mood-setting vocals behind sonar-esque beats which grow more and more reverberated and dubbed out. But as the backbeat dissipates and the brusque chords decay, a frisky tech-house beat takes the stage. The way he interlocks dub atmospherics and the more agile, bittersweet progression is sublime and befitting of the remix title “Morning Rave Mix” (so it’s call on Beatport, anyway). It’s a real “sunrise at peak time” moment. Hopefully Jamie Lloyd’s own tracks make this much of an impression when an already tuned in audience gets to hear them.

5 Comments so far

  1. James on February 7th, 2008

    That is an amazing photograph - itt has to be staged, right?

  2. littlewhiteearbuds on February 11th, 2008

    Somehow I doubt any UN staff would willingly allow such a picture to be taken, let alone distributed. That said, it is an amazing coincidence.

  3. James on February 13th, 2008

    Good point. For some reason, I can’t stop thinking about this image . . . I think it had to be Photoshopped. Would the UN really have the slogan ‘Involved in Africa”? That sounds sort of flat-footed and odd. And the typeface is the exact same, both the font and the size . . .

  4. James on February 13th, 2008

    Ah, I forgot about the power of Google:

    It’s an ad that first appeared in Die Burger. The design agency is FCB Cape Town, South Africa.

  5. matt on February 19th, 2008

    I have been loving this track for weeks now. Glad to see it getting some love.

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