Artist: James Talk
Title: Warm Milk
Label: Spoken Recordings
By: Darren Rhys | 26 March 2007
Tracklist:

• A: Original Mix
• B: Dave Roberston & Jon Gurd 'Rendition' Mix

James Talk "Warm Milk"

Hailing from Southampton, James Talk is rapidly becoming one of the hottest properties in the world of electronic music. His unique take on tech and acid house has been responsible for mayhem on many a dancefloor, with Pete Tong, Nic Fanciulli and John Digweed among his biggest supporters.

'Warm Milk' is reminiscent in many ways of James' other recent work. If you're looking for evidence of jaw-dropping production prowess, exuberance and self-indulgence in a track, then you won't find it here. Yet what we have in abundance is an utterly irresistible charm and infectiousness to 'Warm Milk', qualities which makes evident the enthusiasm James' possesses for what he's doing. A simple beat leads us cautiously into the heart of the track, where we are greeted by a series of great chord stabs. Constant tweaking of the frequency and release of the key rhythmic melody helps it deliver maximum impact when the crux of the track is thrust upon us. A trippy acid synth line rises to the fore, completing a bed of infectious and groovy sounds all working beautifully in tandem. We never really stray far from these key elements, but it's the tracks arrangement and ever-evolving nature which ensures the track's ability to retain listener interest doesn't wane. While I've not yet had the pleasure of hearing this in a club, I can say with some confidence that James' objective to cause havoc on the world's dancefloors has been achieved once again. In fact, I think it's his finest work to date.

A slightly deeper and techier interpretation can be found on the flip side, the creation of seasoned producers Dave Robertson and John Gurd. The mix utilizes some similarly styled sounds as that of the Original Mix, while creating its own series of quirky melodies and acid stabs. The breakdown is a long, drawn out affair which adds a deep, almost progressive flavour to proceedings, before launching into an energetic acid assault which carries us through to the close with vigor. A very cool alternative to a great original, Robertson and Gurd have delivered again.

The nature of James Talk's 'Warm Milk' isn't too dissimilar to it's rather odd title; inoffensive and hardly groundbreaking, yet at the end of the day I'm sure pretty much everyone is going to like it. Recommended.