Fudge Fingas, About Time

[Prime Numbers]


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“A lot of people have to work. You gotta go home, you take a bath. A lot of people, you go home and fuck your wife. A lot of people go home, you cut your grass. I go home, and I fuck that motherfuckin’ MPC all fuckin’ night.” I was thinking about Kenny Dixon Jr’s recent eruditions on domesticity and art while listening to Fudge Fingas’ “It’s About Time.” It deals with the quotidian problems of part-time music making; what if when you get home from a hard day at the office, you’re are just too worn out, or lack the inspiration, to “fuck your MPC,” or for that matter, your significant other?

Gavin Sutherland (aka Mr Fingas)’s careworn Scottish brogue wrestles with the problem of finding enough hours in the day over a lolloping house groove: “All of my time has been taken up/With just waking up/And picking up the bread for each day.” Sutherland’s fears are palpable (“It’s been so long/Don’t know if I can still write a song”), but are swept away by the Carl-Craig-circa-“Angola”-remix synth line and the sweet plea of the double-tracked vocoder chorus: “It’s about time/We still have time/Try to make time/We’re having the time.” I’ve listened to “It’s About Time” over a dozen times, and I still can’t work out if he’s talking about finding time for his music, or for his partner, but nonetheless this is one the most tender songs about the daily ins-and-outs of relationships (either musical or romantic) since Matthew Herbert’s two-up, two-down masterpiece Around The House.

“ME & U” carries on in a similar vein, although this time the sentiment and the groove are less ambiguous. A stomping, almost glam-rock beat, call-and-response vocals and an arrangement similar to Herbert’s label-mate Brooks gives way to a succession of cute couplets: “Sticking with you/If I don’t I feel broke in two/If I break in two/I don’t think it can be fixed with glue.” “Mmm Hmm” is more familiar club and Prime Numbers fare, but still boasts a 3/4 time signature, glistening Motor City pads and perky synth lines to hold its own against the other two cuts, and make it stand out from most other contemporary deep house out there. My girlfriend made some vaguely disparaging comment about “ME & U” sounding a bit like Hot Chip (domesticity, eh) but for me the whole EP is some of the most charming house music of recent times. Apparently About Time is a precursor to a full album from Fudge Fingas; no doubt the subject matter will be everyday, but the music should be anything but.

Blaktony  on April 8, 2010 at 10:49 AM

I LOVE IT!!! So real & relatable subjects never go out of style.

Greg Swindle  on April 10, 2010 at 7:39 PM

Completely tangential comment: I really like the painting for this post.

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[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by ImaHouseGroupie. ImaHouseGroupie said: Fudge Fingas, About Time: Painting by Eric Fortune [Prime Numbers] (buy vinyl) (buy mp3s) “A lot of people have to… http://bit.ly/aqvw0Q […]

Next party with Fudge Fingas at The Drop «  on June 8, 2010 at 3:28 PM

[…] and Prime Numbers, including his recent “About Time” EP, which some dork described as “some of the most charming house music of recent times”. Mr Fingas is also a great DJ with deep crates built from years working behind the counter at […]

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