RETROSPECTIVE: Hird "Moving On"

Hird "Moving On" (2004)
download link01
mu / mp3 192kbps / 69.9mb / dhrip

Label: DNM - Dealers of Nordic Music
Producer: Christoffer Berg
Tracks: 9 (check: Amazon)

if you're a guy, this album is one of those records that you'd put on to impress a female over shiraz at your place. very little know that choice of music can tell a lot about a person, and that said, little realise they judge people by the type of music other people listen to.

err ok, despite the obvious absolute nonsense ive managed to regurgitate in the previous sentence, you somehow find yourself thinking how true this could be, with made-up yet convincing logics bouncing back and forth in your head. enter "moving on".

this record oozes 'cool' in its purest form. although this can seem frequent in future jazz albums, the timelessness of the work of this (then) 21 year old producer/composer is too apparent; with pseudo-jazz tendencies, hypnotic and beautifully flawed vocals of Yukimi Nagano, addictive fender rhodes licks thrown in, witty lo-fi drum samples (think: dirty ride cymbal samples and basic 808 presets) and that late-night-martini chord progressions that just makes you want to express your inner carnal knowledge with someone you err, love.

the same theme rings throughout the record. because i'm categorising this one as a mood record, that's actually a plus, from me. it plays safe, but after a few listen, you start thinking that this could more necessary than it seems. each song sets the mood so successfully that you'd want more of it in the next track - and anything that sets a different mood could make you ask "why?"

...back to my initial analogy, "moving on" as an album has got just enough jazz to make you seem somewhat sophisticated, but not too much that would make you seem like a jazz traditionalist geek. enough house tempo to make you seem laidback, but not too much that you're being seen as an irresponsible yuppie with rich parents. and just enough drum breaks to make you seem fun and funky, but not too much that you'd seem like an underage drum n bass raver high on chemicals; horribly funky, if i had to term it myself. ahh, now it all makes sense.

this is the future jazz i wish i had produced myself, and wish i had on when i had a female friend over for drinks a while back, instead of my prodigy "smack my bitch up" cd on repeat.