NOUVEAU SOUL

Feb 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Simona Rabinovitch

In the early '90s, gigs in Manchester, England, clubs such as Spice, Most Excellent and Rebellious Jukebox made Justin Robertson a key player in the Madchester acid-house revolution. Since then, he has become one of the UK's most forward-thinking DJ/producers. He has remixed the likes of the Happy Mondays, New Order, Erasure and Björk and has enjoyed pop success in the band Lionrock. Today, his DJ residencies include a weekly slot alongside Dave Clarke at the UK club Bugged Out!, where Robertson is renowned for funky, eclectic techno sets. His latest project, though, is in many ways a return to his acid roots. On Revtone (Nuphonic, 2001), Robertson takes time out from techno to compose a melodic, electro-tinged nod to '80s organic soul.

“I wanted to capture the excitement of the era — to make something more atmospheric and quiet, like little electronic snapshots,” says Robertson. “You can hear the '80s influence but in a totally contemporary way. That sound is really hip, but it's important to update it. I'm not a mad electro-head; the best of it has taken that influence and twisted it for today.”

Punk and disco records provided fuel for Revtone's fire. “I was listening to that New York kind of experimental sound of the '80s — Gang of Four; Talking Heads; old Traxx records; early François K productions; off-the-wall, bonkers, electronic things,” he says. “Those records had an almost naïve rawness to them — warm but with an edge.”

Robertson recorded Revtone in a secluded MIDI-based Edinburgh, Scotland, studio that belonged to John Vick of the band The Finitribe. “I decided to take myself out of Manchester, away from distractions,” Robertson says. “John has two little kids, so we'd get up early in the morning and just get on with it.” Because of his hectic weekend DJ schedule, Robertson drove to the studio on a Sunday or Monday for a few days of intense work. “I went up there with a load of samples and a bass line and melody in my head,” he says. “We'd get everything up on the desk. I'd batter it into a vague arrangement so we could work with it; then, John would come and give it a once-over with a fresh ear, and we'd fine-tune it together. It's nice to get another perspective.”

Relying on Sonic Foundry's Acid software and classic Roland Juno sounds, Robertson stayed away from presets and fiddled with samples instead. “It was really about taking sounds and morphing them and using effects to have something unique,” he says. Vocals generally were sampled and compressed, with Robertson actually singing some of his own. “It sounds great now, but it didn't sound so great when I recorded it,” he recalls about the track “Sunshine Whatever,” for which he used a Roland JP-8080 as a vocoder. “It had quite a sweet sound.”

As for the future, Robertson says his next album may be more aligned with his DJ style. “I will be making dance-floor records while keeping that raw, electronic, tuneful sort of music,” he muses. “People almost expect you to do something that they can attach a label to. It's like, ‘Why are you confusing us?’”

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