Elliot Moss: Highspeeds (Warners)

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Elliot Moss: Faraday Cage
Elliot Moss: Highspeeds (Warners)

After being tipped by Spin magazine as one of the artists to watch in 2015, this New York multi-instrumentalist, producer and video artist sees his debut album from last year re-presented (with two extra tracks).

The brooding, moody slow-groove electro-pop soundbeds topped by his smooth, soulful and slightly folk-jazz influenced vocals are certainly appealing on the standout Slip, the lovely minimalist Pattern Repeating and the quirky, dreamscape musings on, seemingly, what lives inside the VCR Machine.

But – and this is a problem when you do almost everything yourself and don't have an outside editor – a distracting two minute sound-piece interrupts the early flow, and after the 53 minutes too much has broadcast on the same low, almost sleepwalking pace.

Moss – who sometimes brings to mind a semi-comatose Jeff Buckley – often sounds in need of a caffeine double-shot.

But the upbeat electro-stutter of I Can't Swim, the swooning bass and synth-strings of Plastic II and aggressive guitars on Faraday Cage elevate this above the sometimes average trip-hop and the effect of prescription tranquilisers.

More interesting on repeat plays, but you have to make a serious effort to get out of the beanbag to do that.

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