Duran Duran Duran: Duran (2LP, Power Vacuum, July 2017)

Remember the mid-noughties? Remember the ravey mash-up sound phenomenon that I’m going to whimsically refer to as happy breakcore? Labels like Wrong Music in the UK and Cock Rock Disco in the US? Remember Shitmat? That scene seemed to produce tonnes of compilation CDs each crammed with 30 two-minute tracks mostly credited to daft one-off pseudonyms, and it’d have been a brave punter who’d’ve bet on which of those acts would releasing an album in 2017. I wouldn’t have bet even money that any of them would be: the whole thing seemed like a lot of people having a lot of fun and not really plotting a path calculated for career longevity. I’ll admit that I remember Duran Duran Duran only for the excellent silliness of the moniker. (And, yes, this is where we caution the reader not to confuse Duran Duran Duran’s Duran with Duran Duran’s Duran Duran. The latter gave us the likes of Girls On Film; the former is our subject today.)

Well, anyway, here we are, with a new Duran Duran Duran album for 2017. And, you know what, it’s pretty tasty. He’s moved on a little bit, which is probably for the best, but not too much, which is a relief. It’s basically a cut’n’shut job of hard acid techno with cut-up breaksy beats, some pretty epic bouncing basslines, and a sparing use of silly samples. The pace is varied nicely and (with the exception, perhaps, of the opening number, Thacid Acid) the tracks where he eases off don’t feel sludgy and dull, which is a big risk in this kind of genre (see, in particular, Drug Life, which does something very interesting with its bass drum). I’ve got to say, though, that the more up-for-it tracks are what make this record. Absolute highlight is Pryor Acid, which is bookended by Richard Pryor doing a bit about taking acid, and is 5 minutes of messy, scattergun deliciousness. The bit where it goes “let the bass drop” and then the bass drops is just perfect, and it makes me feel young again, for which many thanks.

I bought this from Norman Records (but can’t find it on their website any more?).