BLOCK 16-MORNING SUN.

dereksmusicblog ♦ June 16, 2011 ♦ Leave a comment

BLOCK 16-MORNING SUN.

In this article I am going to write about an album that came out ten years ago, on a small record label that, back then, was releasing many great albums and twelve inch singles. Quickly, Nuphonic Records established a reputation for releasing some great music. Between 1994 and 2002, they released albums by Faze Action, Idjut Boys, Fug Black Jazz Chronices and the Block 16 album Morning Sun, which this article is about. 

I hear you ask Block 16, who are they? Block 16 were DJ and producer Glen Gunner, keyboard player Pete Zivkovic and sound engineer Raj Gupta. In 2001, they decided to make an album that incorporated all of their musical influences and favorite styles of music. To do that, they brought together some wonderful vocalists who would all feature on tracks on the album. This included Jhelisa, the late Bim Sherman and legendary soul and jazz singer Jon Lucien, who sadly died in 2007. The result was a wonderful album, Morning Sun, which was released on Nuphonic in 2001. Morning Sun was well received on its release, and is still am album that is highly regarded ten years on. 

Morning Sun opens with Find An Oasis which features Jhelisa. When you hear the opening notes to Find An Oasis, it is apparent that an aural treat awaits you. The track begins with percussion, bells chime, synthesizers produce otherworldly noises, Latin sounding drums beat, then, Jhelisa’s enters. Her voice is smooth, velvety and utterly gorgeous. A veteran of numerous sessions, she uses all her experience to produce a top quality vocal. Behind her vocal, the lushest strings can be heard, gently swaying. For over six and a half minutes, the song builds and builds, unfolding, to reveal its many delights. Find An Oasis, is a great track, one that Masters At Work reworked beautifully. A fantastic track to start Morning Sun.

The title track Morning Sun, sees a musical legend make an appearance. Jon Lucien, who I have previously written about, makes a guest appearance, singing the vocal. In doing so, Lucien rolls back the years nearly forty years, to the greatest days of his career. His vocal really transforms a good track, to a great track. Lucien’s vocal is strong and clear, and during the track he improvises brilliantly, which is really effective. Morning sun begins with an acoustic guitar strummed almost hesitantly, against a backdrop of gentle percussion. Then the track starts to change, drums enter later viola, violins and cello can all be heard. The track has a huge Latin feel and sound. It brings to mind long summer days spent somewhere hot and exotic. This track has the perfect tempo and sound for the dancefloor and would work well in any DJ set.

Slow Hot Wind begins with crunching drum beats sitting right at the front of the mix.  Just a tiny bit of delay has been used to change the sound. After a long introduction where the drums are given centrestage, lovely gentle vocals provide a sooting accompaniment to the drums. This is interrupted by a sample that sounds straight out of a 1960s’ or 1970s’ spy movie. It adds a moodiness, and air of mystery to the track. After that, the sound changes, the vocals are subjected to echo and delay, scratches can be heard, tom-tom drums and percussion make an entrance, and even the tempo increases slightly. However, it still is a good track, although in places, too much echo is used on the vocal, detracting from the vocal’s quality. 

Bim Sherman features on the next track, My Sunshine. Again, the sound changes. At the start of the track effects are used, and you find yourself wondering what direction the track is going to take, especially when some house influenced drums are heard. Then suddenly, Sherman’s fantastic vocal emerges, to give a great performance on the track. Behind his vocal, there is almost a dub track starting to emerge. Effects and samples are used, and a reggae beat can be heard meandering along. The longer the track goes on, the more the dub influence can be heard. Sounds are twisted, subjected to a multitude of effects, that transform them into something glorious. What emerges, is new age dub track, one that changes the flow of the album, taking it in another direction. From a confusing start, My Sunshine becomes a wonderful slice on 21st century dub.

And Voodoo begins with drums, bass and scratches. This sees another direction taken by Block 16. The track features some wonderful melodies, and is loaded with hooks. Throughout the track, the catchiest parts are repeated constantly, and taken in new directions. The sound builds, featuring a great keyboard solo, behind which, an acoustic guitar is played beautifully. It is joined by a trumpet solo, some vocal samples and synths playing some futuristic sounding sounds. This track sees Block 16 use a combination of traditional instruments and technology, to produce a catchy and melodic track, laden with hooks.

Electrokution begins with a retro sounding keyboard solo. This reminds me of early Kraftwerk, all squelches and beeps, and an early techno track. Once the drums kick in, there is a more contemporary sound. The track seems to meaner, ramble even, lacking in variety. You keep waiting for something to happen, the track to open out. Apart from some different drum sounds, and a few hand claps, nothing much changes in the first three minutes. Thankfully, something happens, some strings appear, the tempo starts to build, there is a bit more variety in the track. It’s still a variation on a theme, one that Block 16 seem determined to exploit fully. They do this for nearly seven minutes. After the previous five tracks, Electrokution is a bit of a let down. It is not of the quality of the other tracks. This does not make it a bad track. Quite the opposite, this is a decent track, just a very different style of music. 

Thankfully, after Electrokution the quality returns on the next track Can’t Stop, which features Robert Owens, a veteran of many house track. The track begins like many house tracks, with drums sitting about 120 beats per minute, thereafter, a synthesizer plays and then Owen’s vocal appears. He sings softly, as if just warming up, then quickly starts to demonstrate that unmistakeable voice, His voice sits in front of everything else, and sometimes, just a little delay is added to the vocal. The vocal is almost restrained from vocal. There is no falsetto soaring vocal here, he sings within himself. This suits the track, which has an understated sound and feel, almost minimalist. Owen was the perfect choice to sing Can’t Stop, and has produced as usual, a quality vocal.

Sweet Bassoon begins with a mixture of sounds and samples, all competing for your attention. Then suddenly, strings and Latin sounding drums appear, followed by squelchy sounding synthesizers. Out of this gradually emerges a lovely Latin track, one that features piano, drums, percussion and brass section. This lovely sound starts to quicken, and becomes almost frantic. A piano bursts in and out of the track, competing with drums, brass and percussion. It’s a track whose roots are firmly in Brazil. The sound is infectious, it makes you want to dance. Block 16 have produced a wonderful track, one hugely influenced by Latin music.

Ain’t Got No Time For No Jibber Jabber is a much shorter track than many on the album. It starts with booming drums and squelchy synths. Again, there is a retro sound present, with some of the sounds reminding me of early acid house tracks. The tempo is perfect for the dancefloor, and remains constant throughout. This track has quite a simple arrangement. It is merely drums and synths, which are used throughout the track. Having said that, there is enough variety within the track to keep the listener’s attention. Personally, this track transported me back in time, back to the early days of dance music, when many tracks had a similar sound. A great track, one that brings back good memories.

On the next track The Land Is Yours, it begins with what sounds like an experiment in free jazz that went badly wrong. Ouch. Bad way to start the track. After that, thankfully, things improve. Still the track continues without any indication of where it’s heading. During this period, a multitude of noises can be heard. Some you can recognize, others you can’t. The track is hardly Block 16’s finest hour, sometimes the sounds on the track begin to grate, and it is not easy listening. Somewhere I feel there is a good Latin track starting to emerge. After five minutes, things start to improve, the track I thought was there appears. It is worth the wait. Shame about everything that preceded it though. This is the weakest track on the album, and although the final three minutes are an improvement, can’t save the track.

Find An Oasis (String Reprise) closes the album. After The Land Is Yours, this is a vast improvement. Again, Jhelisa is on vocal duties, and on this version, is backed by the lushest of strings. This version is much slower, and the tempo is way down, turning the song into a downtempo version of the track. The track starts with the string section, they usher in Jhelisa’s sweet vocal, and then the track meanders, beautifully. There is space in the song, where none existed in the original version. Block 16 have transformed the song, taking it from a house track, to a downtempo one. Jhelisa’s vocal is slow, spacious, atmospheric yet she still makes the song sound bright and uplifting. Sometimes, trying to rework a song in this way, can be fatal, leading to all sorts of car crash versions and remixes. This however, is a masterful version of Find An Oasis, and is a great way to close the album.

Having spent some time researching this album, and listening to Block 16‘s album Morning Sun, and some of the other releases on Nuphonic, I am struck by how much good music they released in their eight year lifetime. They seemed to have unearthed some wonderful talented artists, and helped them to release some great albums. Nuphonic is sadly missed, I used to equate a Nuphonic album with quality. Most of their albums were of the highest standard. Morning Sun was up their with the best of them, and is full of wonderful music, music that is a variety of styles, and will appeal to a wide variety of people. On this album, Jon Lucien, Jhelisa, Bim Sherman and Robert Owen can be heard. Each bring something different to the album, and their contributions are one of the reasons why this album is so good. Buy Morning Sun and you will hear soul, jazz, house, reggae, techno and Latin music. What this adds up to, is a great album, one that you should add to your record collection, and will be one you will be glad to have discovered. Standout Tracks: Find An Oasis, Morning Sun, And Voodoo and Can’t Stop.

BLOCK 16-MORNING SUN.