Malachai - Ugly Side Of Love

Finally I remember to post about this fascinating, crazy record. Malachai (or Malakai as you'll sometimes see it written) are a duo from Bristol fronted by a vocalist with penchant for wearing gorilla masks onstage (and on video). They were discovered by Geoff Barlow from Portishead (also being from Bristol), released a few indie EPs, put out this album in 2009, and then re-released it in 2010 on the now rather large Domino indie label. I first heard it in the middle of last year and it blew me away.

So why is it so crazy? Its pretty hard to put my finger on it, but mostly it just sounds like no other record I've ever heard. Its like it was beemed out the late '60s but somewhere along the way picked up bits of mid-90s trip hop and made it to 2009 with both those influences intact. Its mostly in mono, for a start (at least the version I have is); first track "Warriors" is a good example of what's in store; funky riff, loose hip hop drums, strange otherworldly vocals: You don't know whether you are listening to something old, new, sampled, performed, original, ripped off...but it sounds great. And it contains snatches from the movie "The Warriors", which is fine by me.

"Shit Kicker" and "Snowflake" continue this trend, this weird hybrid of rock, trip hop, funk, reggae, folk, 60s garage, and god knows what else. The organ-driven "Blackbird" was the first track I heard, and I honestly believed it was some lost classic from the early '70s (at the time I was listening to an album by Arzachel, which was a lost classic from the '70s, and it reminded me of them). But that's the charm of this record - it is like a music history lesson, but because it's all mixed the same - in this really lo-fi way - it hangs together. Plus there is the charm of singer Gee and his unsettling yet also strangely familiar vocal 'stylings' - it's a distinctive voice for sure, yet relaxes a bit on "Moonsurfin'", which sounds like it could've been from some early '60s beach movie.

"Only For You" steers us more towards trip-hop and Portishead territory, but still doesn't sound like Portishead, which is good; this particular song I believe was co-written with Geoff Barlow, and is smokey and cinematic. The album finishes up with "Fading World" and "Simple Song", both of which are relatively straight forward tracks but with little odd moments that jump out and remind you that this is no ordinary record.

Overall I love the whole thing - this is an album that creates its own world (as every good album should) and draws you in; once you're in, you want to keep going to see where you end up. There's no answers here, no clues as to where this music comes from or what it all means. But that's part of the charm. Pretend its an ancient record you found lying around and dive right in. Surf is up!