Beat 1696

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Harvey Sutherland

ALBUM REVIEWS

BOY Words by Bryget Chrisfield Naarm/Melbourne-based producer, DJ, funk synthesist and overall jazzy cat Harvey Sutherland (real name: Mike Katz) has said that he created the majority of Boy “in a circular loop between [his] studio and [his] psychotherapist”. Initially, Katz intended to make this record about his father, but then it soon became apparent that he was actually describing himself; so it makes total sense that a closeup photograph of Katz’s face – looking like a dapper, but dazed and confused, extra from Happy Days – was chosen to grace Boy’s cover. “I like the idea of oversharing,” Katz explains in the accompanying presser.

“Electronic music has that archetype of the brooding, faceless producer. I sort of like hacking that, doing the opposite.” Katz also sings lead vocals for the first time here – an experience he’s described as “really confronting” – on the saxtastic, Todd Rundgren-channeling track ‘Holding Pattern’ (after a slated collaborator fell through) and certainly doesn’t disgrace himself. Under his Harvey Sutherland moniker, Katz has worked with the likes of Genesis Owusu and remixing credits to date include Disclosure, The Presets’ Julian Hamilton and The Lazy Eyes (his remix of their song ‘Fuzz Jam’ is a deadset sneaky banger). Throughout Boy, he activates limitless sonic – and neural –

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pathways with regular synth explosions triggering a sense of euphoria. Album opener, and Boy’s patient card (if you will), ‘Jouissance’ – so named after a term Katz investigated after first hearing it used during one of his therapy sessions – is effervescent à la Gershon Kingsley’s ‘Popcorn’. There are many variations but, according to Katz, the English translation of ‘jouissance’ is “the itch that demands scratching, a masochistic desire”. Chinstrokerish? Sure, but this is what musical enlightenment sounds like. Christened “the godfather of Modern Funk” by Katz, Dâm-Funk (aka Damon Garrett Riddick) loans his pipes to lead single ‘Feeling Of Love’ – a perfect roller-rink soundtrack: “We need to realign our energies/ And get on the same frequencies, yeah” – brace yourselves for the epic keytar solo! ‘Michael Was Right About You’ (cute title) – all percolating, escalating bliss – will easily impress your hippest dinner party guests. The robotic ‘Type A’, which also ripples with sinewy bass, is offset by a deadpan vocal delivery courtesy of Jack “sos” Summers from Melbourne punk prospects CLAMM: “Because I. Want. It. All.” An elaborate diagram decorating the flip side of the vinyl sleeve dissects what it means to be funky, suggesting, among other deliberately tongue-incheek claims: “Even the most unfunky moment can be funky.” Said diagram’s final destination is “neurotic funk”, which is the perfect descriptor for Boy’s sprawling arrangements. And we’re tipping Axel F scored high rotation on Katz’s Discman back in the day. Clarity Recordings/ Virgin Records Australia Release date: April 29

Dorsal Fins

Star Of The Show Trimming their lineup down from nine members to the essential songwriting holy-trinity of Ella Thompson (GL), Jarrad Brown (Eagle & The Worm) and Liam McGorry (Ex-Olympian, Saskwatch), Dorsal Fins entered McGorry’s Hope Street studio with zero expectations and no specific plans to make an album. Then Stars Of The Show – described by McGorry as “the most eclectic thing we’ve ever done” – emerged, with lead vocal duties switched-up throughout giving their third record an almost mixtape feel. Ironically titled, since creating this record was a truly collaborative affair, Star Of The Show was produced by John Castle (Vance Joy, Megan Washington). The opening title track immediately hypnotises and we feel like we’re floating blissfully in the infinity pool of a house we’ve just broken into, until the groovy beat drops and hints of brass float by on the breeze to shake listeners out of reveries. Boasting a clarity akin to the great Linda Ronstadt, Thompson’s vocals are pop perfection, glistening like sun glitter throughout the album’s ebullient second single, ‘Sister’: “I lost my way trying to be a woman.” Melancholy, Peter Hookchanneling bass enters around this song’s halfway mark before intensifying bongos massage our hopes up and then male BVs rush in, like supportive allies of an exhausted sisterhood. Dorsal Fins have always been an innovative, exciting outfit, but free from the shackles of expectation and attachment to outcomes they’ve rewritten their statement of intent. Don’t be mistaken, however, Star Of The Show ain’t no hastily released collection of tinkerings. Dot Dash/ Remote Control Release date: May 13

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