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Mr. Fingers - Cerebral Hemispheres

    • Label /
      Alleviated Records
      ML9017
    • Released /
      April 2018
    • Style /
      House
    • Comments /
      26 / View
    • Rating /
      3.3/5
    • Previous
    • Next
    Mr. Fingers - Cerebral Hemispheres Mr. Fingers - Cerebral Hemispheres
    Mr. Fingers - Cerebral Hemispheres Larry Heard is one of the best to ever do it. He's been making classics since the mid-'80s, hand-playing the bassline on "Mystery Of Love" soon after he acquired some basic kit. His musical innovations elevated Chicago house to an art form and imbued dance music with a sense of deepness that audiences and producers alike remain fixated on more than three decades later. His rich catalogue is full of timeless music, and he's delivered floor-fillers ("The Sun Can't Compare") and workhorse dance tracks ("Outer Acid") throughout his career. It's because of all this that the arrival of Cerebral Hemispheres, his first album as Mr. Fingers in 24 years, feels like a momentous occasion. (As a triple LP that's nearly two hours long, it's scaled accordingly.) It's split into two distinct halves: the first 50 minutes or so are dedicated to his own slow-burn vocal jams, and the slightly longer second half contain various dance floor productions, including lightly edited versions of his excellent 2016 EP, Mr. Fingers 2016.

    A Mr. Fingers album that fails to deliver a handful of new classics would naturally feel like a disappointment. Some may feel that way about the vocal tracks, which take their time to settle into themselves. The LP opens with "Full Moon"'s deep, loping groove, overlaid with Heard's own vocals, which succeed to varying degrees across the LP. There's some awkward enjambment on "Crying Over You," but the arrangement and addictive pulse are strong enough to make it an album highlight.

    Mostly, Heard's concerned with setting a mood. The LP's vocal half is taken up by languid travelogues and tracks that fall somewhere between deep house and smooth jazz. Heard's arranged a crew of skilled players—Christopher Charles Jones on "City Streets," Ed Finney on "Urbane Sunset," tenor saxophonist Zachary McElwain on three tracks—who perform generous solos over smooth house grooves. At times, they sound like a lounge band. "Sands Of Aruba" and "A Day In Portugal" are plodding deep house instrumentals intended to transport us to exotic beaches without ever going anywhere. But "Tiger Lounge"'s casual guitar groove and "Sao Paulo"'s sprightly bassline break things up nicely.

    The album's dance side is similarly spotty. The four tracks from the 2016 EP stand out, and "Inner Acid," presumably the inverse of "Outer Acid," is the best straight-ahead dance track on the record, Heard's subtle percussive delays complementing a catchy yet alien 303 groove. But he makes confusing diversions into dub on "Spy" and "Stratusfly." The former combines melodica-driven dub and espionage soundtrack fare, while the latter's melodica riff recalls the motif from The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. Weird. Nicole Wray's vocal on "Praise To The Vibes" helps end the LP on a high note. The lyrics about shopping and social media may seem superficial—"Woke up this morning / Got about 100 likes... Falling in love is what we should be doing / shopping at Neiman and Marcus and Bloomings'"—but the vocal's smoothness complements Heard's joyful track.

    Though it's billed as the return of Mr. Fingers, Cerebral Hemispheres feels like a culmination of all the music he's made as Larry Heard. It's a long tour through deep vocal tracks, like 2001's Love's Arrival LP, the sci-fi soundscapes of Alien, the two personality-focused albums he released as Mr. Fingers, Introduction and Back To Love, and 2005's Soundtrack From The Duality Double-Play, another double-LP split into jazzy house and acid tracks. While Heard's been the architect behind some of house music's best albums—Fingers Inc.'s Another Side, for example—most of his LPs show his love of prog and fusion. In other words, they've been lengthy, ambitious full-lengths with an array of singles sprinkled throughout. Cerebral Hemispheres is exactly that. Whatever its flaws, it's a solid entry in a legendary discography.
    • Published /
      Mon / 16 Apr 2018
    • Words /
      Matt McDermott
    • Share
    • Tracklist /
      01. Full Moon
      02. City Streets
      03. Urbane Sunset
      04. Sands Of Aruba
      05. Tiger Lounge
      06. A Day In Portugal
      07. Sao Paulo
      08. Crying Over You
      09. Cerebral Hemispheres
      10. Electron
      11. Outer Acid
      12. Inner Acid
      13. Spy
      14. Stratusfly
      15. Nodyahed
      16. Quazars
      17. Aether
      18. Praise To The Vibes
    0/
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  • More on Larry Heard

    • Larry Heard
      Add to favourites

      Larry Heard (born 1960) is a musician widely known for the Chicago house music he produced in the mid-1980s and continues to produce today. He was a member of the influential group Fingers, Inc. and has recorded solo under various names, most notably M..
      View the full artist profile

    Upcoming dates

    • Fri11/May 2018

      Lyon

      Nuits Sonores - Night 3

    • Fri01/Jun 2018

      Northern Ireland

      AVA Festival 2018

    • Fri01/Jun 2018

      Marseille

      Festival Le Bon Air

    • Fri08/Jun 2018

      Madrid

      Paraíso Festival

    • Sun10/Jun 2018

      Barcelona

      Brunch -In the City #7: Move D, Larry Heard aka Mr Fingers Live, Byron the Aquarius

    • Sun08/Jul 2018

      Turin

      Kappa FuturFestival 2018 Day 2 - Sunday 8th July

    • Fri31/Aug 2018

      Lisbon

      Lisb-on #Jardim Sonoro 2018

    • Fri14/Sep 2018

      All

      Oasis Festival 2018

    News

    • Wed, 14 Mar 2018

      2 comments

      Morocco's Oasis Festival adds more acts to 2018 lineup

      DJ Koze, Peggy Gou, Honey Dijon and Larry Heard are among the artists heading to Fellah Hotel in Marrakech.

    • Wed, 14 Mar 2018

      1 comments

      Trax Records classics from Adonis, Larry Heard reissued on 7-inch vinyl

      Frankie Knuckles' 'Baby Wants To Ride' and Marshall Jefferson's 'Move Your Body' will be available individually and as a part of a set from reissue label Get On Down.

    • Mon, 05 Mar 2018

      Post a comment

      Larry Heard to play AVA Festival in Belfast

      The house music pioneer is also taking part in a conference programme featuring Bicep and KiNK.

    • Wed, 14 Feb 2018

      Post a comment

      Barcelona party Brunch-In The City announces 2018 season with Larry Heard, Steffi

      Mount Kimbie, Maya Jane Coles, Move D and Apparat will also play the seven-date Sunday series, which starts next month.

    • Tue, 13 Feb 2018

      26 comments

      Larry Heard announces new Mr. Fingers album, Cerebral Hemispheres

      It's coming out on the Chicago pioneer's own label, Alleviated Records.

    • Wed, 10 Jan 2018

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      Hunee's Rush Hour compilation, Hunchin' All Night, coming out in March

      Tunes from Pat Thomas, Kenny Larkin and Larry Heard feature on the 12-track set.

    • Fri, 24 Nov 2017

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      South Africa's Into The Castle festival cancelled as parent company 'struggles to survive'

      "Our team is shattered and all the money invested in this start-up is gone," posted Music Goes Further on Facebook.

    • Thu, 21 Sep 2017

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      Larry Heard headlines Freedom Time shows around Australia

      Sassy J and Bradley Zero will also play at the Perth, Melbourne and Sydney festivals this New Year's period.

    Reviews

    • 26 comments

      Mr. Fingers - Cerebral Hemispheres

    • 5 comments

      Larry Heard Presents Mr. White - Virtual Emotion

    • 5 comments

      Dâm-Funk / Nite-Funk - Believer (Fingers Deep-Funk Remix) / Can You Read Me?

    • 10 comments

      Various - Rebirth 10 Compiled And Mixed By Larry Heard AKA Mr. Fingers

    • 41 comments

      Mr. Fingers - Mr. Fingers 2016

    • 10 comments

      Matrixxman - Homesick Remixes

    • 3 comments

      Bred For Pleasure - Better Than This

    • 9 comments

      Lexx - Originals Volume Eight

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      Tennis - Make It Good

    • 12 comments

      Gerd - Palm Leaves Remixes

    • 18 comments

      Mr Fingers - Mr Fingers EP

    • 21 comments

      Larry Heard - 25 Years From Alpha

    • 21 comments

      Larry Heard - 25 Years From Alpha

    • 9 comments

      Larry Heard presents Mr. White – You Rock Me/The Sun Can't Compare

    0/
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