It’s rare these days for an impressive looking slab of vinyl to arrive in my mail amongst the bills, circulars and takeaway flyers so, aesthetically, this 12” single is a joy to behold, with its handsome black and white sleeve. A quick note though to Gobsmacked Records (and other labels); it’s always useful to indicate the playing speed on the label. I spun it at 45 RPM the first time and it almost gave me a seizure. Sounded pretty good though in a hyperactive, mad kinda way. It does sound better at 33 RPM. ‘Just Go Softly’ has an intense, textured sound, the deep, subterranean bass and frenetic beats offset by little stabs of what sounds like sampled and treated horns. It’s got a cool feel to it, alternating between a quite dark, moody sound and something far more euphoric. ‘Just Go’ has a starker feel with a string motif and a male voice intoning “Go, go” It has quite a trippy feel though it’s certainly not laidback and couldn’t be described as trip-hop. More hallucinatory than blunted with its vigorous beats, insistent melodies and changes throughout an extended workout that subtly shifts and changes while remaining totally entrancing. The ‘Robert Armani RMX’ breaks the track down into its component parts, leaving mainly the rhythm tracks and a disembodied voice accompanied by little electronic bleeps and phasing on the drums. The end result is a bit of dub work-over that’s enjoyable enough but somehow it doesn’t quite take-off. Overall though, it’s a rather special and highly enjoyable record.
