Andrew Coleman - Tony Alva's Lair

ANDREW COLEMAN - Tony Alva's Hair (CSC012 C0c0s0l1dc1t1 2005) 12 Tracks. 60mins37secs Best known for his drill'n'bass work as Animals On Wheels, with releases for Ninja Tune, Cambridge-based Andrew Coleman has been exploring more subtle and delicate musical forms in the last few years. Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt, released in 2001 on Thrill Jockey, his third album, the first to be released under his own name, hinted at folk structures augmented with found sounds and electronics, evoking a more introvert version of Greg Davis's early work. With its follow up, Demons, published on the excellent Trippel Records in 2004, Coleman refined his autistic melodies further, breaking up his sound sources into a multitude of tiny pieces before painstakingly reassembling them For his latest effort, Coleman injects a generous dose of beats and grooves into his crystalline soundscapes and steps into more welcoming territories. Released on Manchester-based imprint C0c0s0l1dc1t1, Tony Alva's Hair is a far more accessible and instant piece of work than previous releases. The title's reference to 70s skateboard legend and Lords Of Dogtown hero Alva bears no real relevance to the record itself. From Coleman's own admission, he wanted a title that didn't create a statement on the content of the album. Coleman still refers to the general sonic template of previous recordings, but this times he assembles far richer structures around hip-hop-infused beats and grooves. Right from the outset, it is clear that things have taken a different turn on here. Early Fall From Nowhere is funky and warped in equal measures, and its gentle melody soon becomes too annoyingly catchy to go unnoticed. Over Head And Under Feet continues on a similar path, and the sudden appearance of Dose One on Not A Speculation provide yet another clue of the general direction taken with this record. It is not to say that Coleman has totally abandoned the delicate folk tones of previous recordings. Traces can still be found in the background on almost every track, and more evidently on the piano-led Rain & Dogs or on the hidden track that concludes the album, but they don't appear as his main point of focus anymore. As he constructs solid rhythmic backbones and weave his soundscapes around them, he re-introduces playful urban elements to his work. With each new album, Andrew Coleman offers a glimpse at a different side of his musical persona before refining it. Here, he comes out of his shell and soaks up the sun once again. If Demons was the sound of Coleman looking inward, with Tony Alva's Hair, he undoubtedly turns to the outside world and is determined to make his presence felt.

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