Brainfeeder Schallplatten & CDs

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


British producer Felix Clary Weatherall, who is far better known as Ross From Friends, makes a huge step up with his Tread album on Brainfeeder. It retains the lo-fi, nostalgic sense of melody that made him such a breakout star a couple of years ago, but with a new depth and high-class production prowess that stands it even further apart. There are plenty of crackly old samples of soul, pitched up r&b vocals A real element of sonic experimentation is there if you look for it in this album, but the tunes themselves are so sweet and compelling that it never feels too try-hard. A fantastic work.

Review: It's notoriously difficult to make albums of emotive, musically complex, club-friendly music, but Felix Clary Weatherall achieved it with his 2018 full-length debut as Ross From Friends, Family Portrait. This belated sequel hits all the right notes, too, skipping between heart-aching post-two-step deepness ('The Daisy'), lilting breakbeat-house warmth ('Revellers'), spaced-out, sample-heavy downtempo soul ('A Brand New Start'), tipsy, fuzz-fuelled outsider house oddness (the swelling 'Grub'), sunrise-ready ambient ('Morning Sun in a Dusty Room') and classic 1990s IDM-inspired electronica sweetness ('Thresho 1.0'). In other words, it's that rarest of beasts: a second album that's genuinely superior to its predecessor.

Review: British producer Felix Clary Weatherall, who is far better known as Ross From Friends, makes a huge step up with his Tread album on Brainfeeder. It retains the lo-fi, nostalgic sense of melody that made him such a breakout star a couple of years ago, but with a new depth and high-class production prowess that stands it even further apart. There are plenty of crackly old samples of soul, pitched up r&b vocals A real element of sonic experimentation is there if you look for it in this album, but the tunes themselves are so sweet and compelling that it never feels too try-hard. A fantastic work.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in working order***


Lo-fi house hero Ross From Friends presents his debut album for Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder imprint - this follows up the terrific Aphelion EP he presented on the label earlier this year. Like the title suggests, Family Portrait refers to a very specific personal aspect of Felix Weatherall's life: the influence of his parents. Dance music was always around during his childhood, where he grew up learning about music from his dad - who apparently had a penchant for banging out hi-NRG tracks on the decks. It's a riveting listen from start to finish: from the the intensely vivid groove of "Pale Blue Dot" to the moody "Project Cybersyn" with its tunnelling aesthetic - perfectly geared for those heads-down moments later in the night.

Review: Lo-fi house hero Ross From Friends presents his debut album for Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder imprint - this follows up the terrific Aphelion EP he presented on the label earlier this year. Like the title suggests, Family Portrait refers to a very specific personal aspect of Felix Weatherall's life: the influence of his parents. Dance music was always around during his childhood, where he grew up learning about music from his dad - who apparently had a penchant for banging out hi-NRG tracks on the decks. It's a riveting listen from start to finish: from the the intensely vivid groove of "Pale Blue Dot" to the moody "Project Cybersyn" with its tunnelling aesthetic - perfectly geared for those heads-down moments later in the night.

Review: 1990s sitcom loving beat maker Felix Weatherall returns to Brainfeeder for the first time since the release of his widely acclaimed debut album as Ross From Friends, 2018's "Family Portrait". He's in fine form from the off, with title track "Epiphany" offering a wonderfully intoxicated, off-kilter blend of bustling drum machine breakbeats, hallucinatory electronics, Middle Eastern style instrumentation and razor-sharp bass. He continues on an inventive fusion trip in the form of "The Revolution", where cut-up vocal samples and bluesy guitar lines rise and fall above a densely percussive deep house groove. Also impressive is "Phantom Ratio", a slightly more driving dancefloor cut rich in skittish drums and undulating electronic melodies.

Review: It's indicative of the dizzying rise of Ross From Friends in recent times that Flying Lotus wants to put out the producer's freshest material. His Brainfeeder debut is not an epic departure from his previous outings, with the action once again focusing on his unique fusion of cut-and-paste, hip-hop style production, sample-heavy deep house and thrusting Euro-disco influences. The result is an EP that ticks an awful lot of boxes, placing the glistening new age-influenced Balearic bliss of "John Cage" - one of the producer's most luscious and sun-kissed efforts to date - next to more bustling dancefloor workouts. The number of vinyl copies available is apparently very limited, so don't hang around if you want to grab one.

Review: Lo-fi house hero Ross From Friends presents his debut album for Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder imprint - this follows up the terrific Aphelion EP he presented on the label earlier this year. Like the title suggests, Family Portrait refers to a very specific personal aspect of Felix Weatherall's life: the influence of his parents. Dance music was always around during his childhood, where he grew up learning about music from his dad - who apparently had a penchant for banging out hi-NRG tracks on the decks. It's a riveting listen from start to finish: from the the intensely vivid groove of "Pale Blue Dot" to the moody "Project Cybersyn" with its tunnelling aesthetic - perfectly geared for those heads-down moments later in the night.