DESCRIPTION: Second track on Soulphiction's State Of Euphoria LP. (Sonar Kollektiv)
With a level of label promiscuity that verges on the detrimental, Michel Baumann has been releasing music on the likes of Playhouse, Poker Flat, Gstone and now Sonar Kollektiv since the mid-nineties. Putting his Jackmate alias to sleep, Baumann now operates under the consonant heavy Soulphiction moniker - behind which he serves up a smooth-as-silk fusion of polished hip-hop, breezy soul and honey-coated jazz. Opening with the appropriately titled 'Intro', Baumann goes straight for the bedroom; as 1970's effects a-go-go and house-lite piano coax the ear into a pleasingly opaque territory that is made all the more lulling by the distant rain drops and whispered vocals. However, whilst all this may sound as stimulating as a Nytol, Baumann soon extends beyond the silk-sheets for his fidgety take on feel-good funk - with the likes of 'Used', 'Angela' and 'Deranged' all making good use of disco hi-hats, velveteen vocals and cinematic synth-strings. Faceless without becoming anonymous, Soulphiction would once have been deemed wine-bar - but whilst this may sound a criticism, Baumann keeps everything just the right side of soporific. Pulp Phiction!
