JIMI TENOR, the Finnish producer with roots in the darker, industrial side of dance music way, waay back, has been on a hell of a pilgrim’s progress to where he is today, with his second long player for Philophon, Aulos, out in the racks now.
By jiminy it’s a world away from those dark beginnings; it’s a colourful and joyous voyage through African textures, ranging from the midwest of the continent over to the Nile delta.
In July he dropped a limited 7″ of “Sugar And Spice”, big, fly funk stabs with polyrhythmic science courtesy Ghanian drummer Ekow Alabi Savage; we proper fell hard for the flip, “Lover’s Bridge”, which had the artefactual gravity of a lost Sun Ra side. (We took a look at that 7″ here – it’s still available at Jimi’s Bandcamp, too).
He followed that with the irresistible groove of “Afroeuropean” in October; we noted for the record that that was “a blissful slice of Afrojazz-funk, stuffed full of polyrhythmic mantra; space-funk guitar breaks, big, big brass joy.”
And with Aulos upon us, he’s dropped just one more single with accompanying video: “Small Things”, which you can watch below.
It’s such a bright, positive, slice of Afrofunk-pop, simple in the aims it achieves; to put a spring in your step, let a little sun into these winter days, with excellent lyrics: “The great thing about you is that you believe that the universe is expanding and that it’s getting too cold to be alone,” he sings, and boy, that’s one smooth line.
It is the small things that we do that are best, he concludes. Listen to this man.
Jimi Tenor’s Aulos is out now on digital, CD and vinyl formats on Philophon; you can order your copy now at Bandcamp.
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