Ceephax - Camelot Arcade

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  • When a longhaired Andy Jenkinson performed his first ever Ceephax Acid Crew gig at the 333 club in London, aged 18, he never intended to make a career out of it. "It wasn't even my aim to be a musician," he told Motherboard.tv in 2011. "It was just a laugh, or something." He was signed there and then by Ed DMX to Breakin' Records, and a series of romping acid brain-melters soon followed. 20 years later and Jenkinson is still laughing. His music is defined by a quirky (and very British) sense of humour. It's fun and colourful, with a bad-taste DIY aesthetic that extends to neon cover art and some very silly videos. He's also composed several soundtracks for satirical filmmakers the Chelmsford Film Society, where his brother Jonny Jenkinson is a member. A Bloc and Bangface regular, his live sets are wild, usually with Jenkinson on the mic, part rave compère, part comedian. Ceephax is a persona that comes to life on stage, but at home in the studio the real Andy Jenkinson—the accomplished and adventurous hardware musician—comes out to play. This is the Jenkinson we hear on Camelot Arcade, Ceephax's second album for Belgian label WéMè Records. Like its predecessor, Cro Magnox, Camelot Arcade is a collection of emotive and melodic synth tracks written less for dance floors than the the addled post-club hours that follow. There's something gorgeously restorative about "Life Started Tomorrow," for example, from its massaging acid bassline to those cleansing crystalline synth notes. "Shadowphax Part I" gently burbles away at your subconscious for a soothing seven minutes. "Phraxby" is lovely too, a kind of warming jazz-lounge-funk subversion of a classic IDM brain freeze. You can picture Jenkinson here in his dark sunglasses jamming out to this one. "The Green Night" and "Shadowphax Part II" are about as hard as this record gets, but they're far from the neurotic face-peeling stuff of, say, Acid Fourniture from last year. Camelot Arcade is designed for more thoughtful consumption. Despite the title and ludicrous artwork, it's a serious and heads-y synth record. Or maybe it's just another Jenkinson jape, a parody of the schmaltzy synth album made to buffoon those who elevate it while Jenkinson looks on and snickers.
  • Tracklist
      01. Trusthouse Forte 02. Camelot Escalator 03. Life Started Tomorrow 04. Shadowphax Part I 05. Creon Happy 06. Path to the None 07. Phraxby 08. Hovagen 09. The Green Night 10. Wasteline 389 11. The Great Greatsby 12. Shadowphax Part II 13. Yodecahedron
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