Jesse Rose - What Do You Do If You Don't?

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  • Even though he was among the pioneers of fidget house, there has always been something more to Jesse Rose, whether be it his collaboration with Henrik Schwarz ("Stop, Look & Listen"), friendship with the Get Physical posse (Body Language Volume Three), gigs in the Canadian wilderness (Rouyn-Noranda, Québec) or unlikely residency at Panorama Bar. So while the sub-genre's other luminaries are busy indulging their inner b-boy (Sinden), flirting with mainstream electro-house (you can still feel Touché's, er, touch coming from underneath Fake Blood's Stormtrooper mask) or further developing their blend of breakbeat and British old skool hardcore (Herve), Rose has gone the other way yet again and recorded something truly unexpected: a pop album. Clocking in at only 48 minutes, What Do You Do If You Don't? is a concise collection of Radio 1-friendly house that takes the edge of fidget and replaces it with a glossy sheen. Co-produced by long-time partner Taylor and mastered by Berlin-based techno maverick Jan Driver, What Do You Do has the kind of attention-to-detail rarely seen this side of Timbaland. Recruiting Hot Chip to star on the album's first single doesn't hurt the cause. While the original 12-inch version of "Forget My Name" was a deceiving, underwhelming affair—mostly because it never really got, over the course of its 11 minutes, anywhere—when reduced to a perkier length on the album, it suddenly feels more appropriate, and sets the tone for the rest of the record. "Day Is Done," the other Hot Chip collaboration, is slower in tempo and more subtle. It's What Do You Do If You Don't?'s official ballad and has the same heartwarming pathos found on Made in the Dark's more contemplative moments. "Miss Taker," an obvious future single that features fellow Londoner David E. Sugar, is from the same pop breed—albeit with an "oi oi oi"-type singing that comes straight out of Chav-ville—and is obviously destined for the drunken masses. Elsewhere, Rose's sound should be familiar to anyone who has been into Taylor and Rose's production techniques: it showcases their bouncy and beefy trademark bass lines ornamented with things like quirky whistling ("Well Now") or a light piano motif with almost Beatles-esque harmonies ("You're All Over My Head"). It's all fun and diverting, yet you can't help but notice how quickly the duo exhaust the sub-genre's very sense of originality. And when they try to take it somewhere else, as on the two excursions into what could only be called fidget jazz ("Night at the Dogs" and "Touch My Horn"), it gets a bit awkward, if not totally inoffensive, as on the two-step/UK garage oddity that closes the album and unfortunately recalls Craig David. When it fully indulges its pop inclinations, What Do You Do If You Don't? is catchy—even addictive—if a little bit silly in its desire to be prismatic at all costs (in a good, put-a-smile-on-your-face way). When it tries to encapsulate the effervescence of fidget anthem "Rikkalicious" into three minutes however, it sadly sounds superfluous and redundant. In other words, it's like any pop album: half successful.
  • Tracklist
      01. Forget My Name ft. Hot Chip 02. Well Now 03. Pop Yer Porn 04. Miss Taker ft. David E Sugar 05. Wine Gum 06. Asided 07. Night At The Dogs 08. Day Is Done ft. Hot Chip 09. Heavy Still ft. Afra & The Incredible Beatbox Band 10. You're All Over My Head 11. Touch My Horn 12. Never Ending
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