Of all the things to happen to me in 2008 such as, finally getting a haircut, meeting the first in a new line of god awful women and completely missing out on the fact it was the international year of the potato, I would have to say stumbling upon the sounds of Bullion somewhere in the annals of the the blogosphere was my crowning moment. It took all of twenty minutes to ravage the servers of his entire, modest back catalogue and all of 24 hours to ensure everyone I knew suitably revered the brilliant ‘Pet Sounds In The Key Of Dee’ album.
Just shy of a year later the grapevine let slip news of a certain Nathan “Bullion” Jenkins being booked to play round these here parts. So it was that I gathered my friends and skipped my way to the discoteque with the full intention of meeting and befriending a West Londoner with a penchant for dopeness.
Instead I took it upon myself to get somewhat intoxicated and, with a can of Red Stripe in each hand, enquire as to which synth he used on breakout track ‘Get Familiar’.
Facepalm.
Another year has passed and comes with it the advent of Bullion’s self proclaimed non-album ‘You Drive Me To Plastic’.
To say the LP is somewhat of a departure from his beats of yore seems a heady understatement. It has arrived, unpacked and staked claim to the best seat at the pool bar.
Warped, droning saxophones and echoing Farfisa claps litter the soundscapes.
Where once stood warm, punchy beats now leer cold, eighties snaps. Layers of deep, lush samples have found their replacement in jarring, Juno- like swells. Most importantly though, head nods and foot taps have been replaced by beard strokes and irony.
Tracks ‘Spirit Mighty’ and ‘My Castle In England’ sound like masterfully EQ’d versions of Tears For Fears’ instrumental noodlings from ‘Songs From The Big Chair’.
The fourth offering ‘Lol Express’ bears a frankly striking resemblance to ‘Desire’ by oddball eighties pop group Yello.
‘Pressure To Dance’ plays like a sloppy Cybotron B-side, circa 1985 and all seem to retain as much pretension as their counterparts of yesteryear.
I’ve always believed music should be the last bastion of taste. There’s enough irony in mustaches, jumpers and voting habits without the need for sardonic tunes and nothing irks my nostalgia more than plagiarising a time of hairspray and expensive coal.
However- and do bear with me on this- it could be we are witnessing a concept career. Each long play representing an alternative take on a predetermined decade. We’ve had concept albums like “...And The Purple Brain” by One Handed Music’s jewel in the crown, Paul White. Maybe Bullion is thinking on a much wider scale. Not content with one twee foray into conceptual indulgence he’s deemed himself fit to accept a career of scrutiny outside of his select peers and nepotism within.
Or maybe he just got tired of people telling him he bears a striking similarity to J Dilla.
Yes, I said that to him as well.
‘You Drive Me To Plastic’ is released on the 22nd of November via Young Turks.
