Lee Jones has recorded, produced, and remixed before, as a solo artist under the name Hefner as well as in a variety of collaborations (
MyMy,
Daniel Dreier). His full-length debut under his own name is a sweetly fascinating exploration of house, electro, downtempo, and glitch elements that is deeply informed by his adopted hometown of Berlin without giving in entirely to the darker and weirder tendencies of that city's underground electronica scene. A subtle but undeniable generosity of spirit underlies tracks like the nicely bubbling "Theme for Frank" and "Every Click Matters," while "It Is, Isn't It" explores a cool, dark, and exotic ambience, and "The Secret" manages to swing nicely while sounding mysterious at the same time. There are elements of soul in the vocal sample on "Soon," and a glitchy minimalism informs the chugging "Fun Runner"." Things bog down just a bit towards the middle of the program with a trio of less uninteresting, run-of-the-mill house tracks, but most of this program is gently surprising, texturally varied, and melodically delightful. ~ Rick Anderson