New Album MISTER AUL "ADDICTION".
Digipack CD+DVD le 10 Avril 2007.
(Vision Alternative/Pias)
There is no point in presenting again Mister Aul's feats of arms as the well-known turntablist, the world's number two in DMC (2002, 2003 and 2004). This emeritus scratcher gets ahead of the sound of his grooves with a sense of anticipation.
After a long story as turntablist, he was naturally led to publish two breakbeat vinyls : “The DJ's temple” in 2001 and “The Guild Breaks” the following year.
One collaboration followed another : Mister Aul scratches on two titles of Frandol's album (Wagram) and on Naab's. On tour with the band Antidote, he met Louise Attaque, , they get along and the band invited him on stage, and left him to do a remix, “Nord o Sud”, in 2000. Then, he participated with some members of the band to the adventure Ali Dragon (Atmospheriques) on three titles and on the tour.
He published at the same time a compilation mixed with DJ Eanov, “Rue Oberkampf” (Virgin) exuding the atmosphere of this colorful Parisian street, from Earth, Wind & Fire to Aphrodite.
In 2004, he brought out his first album on Bloom Records label, D.Compoz, completely elaborated from his turntables, going past the technical side and the stress of competitions. The turntable goes back to its part as an instrument in its own right, as Q-Bert, Scratch Pervert or Kid Koala did. On the same year, he did arrangements for the album of “No Bluff Sound” (Wagram). In 2006 he produced seven pieces for the compilation “Urban Soul” (Justement Music) and made arrangements for the singer Paul Pi (Wiprecording).But Mister Aul is driven above all by the desire of making people dance, of seeing the dance floor doubled up with pleasure, of giving a real show.
Saying that this guy scoured the genres would be appallingly trite. He rather pushed back the boundaries, by mixing funk, soul, hip hop, drum'n'bass – which is a genre he particularly loves, integrating into his sets all the technique and the science acquired in his hip hop sessions.
In short, drawing a picture of this unusual artist is a seemingly impossible task. In his hands, the turntables are not instruments used to read discs but anymore but some he tames to make them playing music. He discovered the pleasure of sharing the stage with musicians and mixing his own universe with others.
From then on Mister Aul started his fundamental work, setting himself precise targets, even if it surprised some people. With his new opus Addiction, leaving scratch music out, elaborating in his studio a fusion of all the genres he likes – rock, funk, soul, drum, hip hop, psyche, gospel. The encounter with the guitarist Guillaume Martel, among others, was decisive. It became the catalyst of sensations which had been buried for a long time, and which appeared under the fingers of this collaborator/musician. Mister Aul asked him to play riffs in which he would cut to shape tailormade raw material, as he did with the bassist Karim Hamida, the singers Nomie and Vanessa and the toasters Ryu and Mirage. He juggled with rhythms, the long-standing friends with whom he learnt to build his unforgettable sets and his scissors-cut universe. He composed himself his tunes and his rhythms on keyboard, making scratches disappear, supplanted by ultra-powerful groovy titles, taking shortcuts to take us towards a direction and suddenly following haunted bends. Addiction is one of these discs which fit you like a glove, radiating devouring passion for the ultimate groove, the word for these thirteen titles, like so many soul funk uppercuts filled with rock attitude.
An album with subtle richness, which like concealing this first instrument – the one which made his reputation – hidden under the effects and the production's delicacies. It is playing with us, sowing here and there some traps, arousing our curiosity to detect where scratches are hiding. But Mister Aul has not stopped business, as you can see in Wax Vision, a veiled reference composed only with his turntables, the last title of the album.
Mister Aul gives us a bonus DVD with various live performances, drawn in an impressive stock of personal records, which he selected and edited himself. For all those who have not yet saw him on stage, these films testify to the power radiating from his shows. Turntables reveal they can hold their own with any other instrument, testifying to Mister Aul's particular love for the stage, sometimes inviting a drummer to accompany him on stage for more percussion.
An opus spinning links between yesterday, today and tomorrow's Mister Aul, where images and tones strike to make up a homogeneous and colorful whole.
AUL in the MixAUL & ROMAIN
