Speedy J - Ginger

Speedy J - Ginger (Plus 8 Records Ltd., PLUS8025, 1993) (FLAC)

I picked this up randomly in a cd store in the late 90's and I keep coming back to it.  I was lucky enough to see him live a few years ago at Decibel Festival.  Fantastic!  Anyways, check this out.  I'll track down some reviews that has the time to go more in depth on this album.

This is one of the early 90's albums that got it absolutely right. So many artists fell into the Aphex Twins' style of distortion, tried to copy the Orb's ambient sound, or relied upon General Midi (GM) sounds to 'help' them out. There was a 'dull' period between 95-97 in which nothing really 'new' stood out, except for the odd release here and there. But Speedy J's Ginger is silky-smooth and has some very nice tracks for it's time. A must have.

A classic. Beautiful, discreet, warm, crystalline - "Ginger" is all of these and more. The vinyl version of "Pepper" is different, more upbeat, than that on the CD.

What a great piece of electronic music, silky & smooth, clean produced but there is something that no one write about & is the similar between the track Flashback & the William Orbit's Hardcore Mix of Kraftwerk's Radioactivity, only avaiable on the US 12'' edition of the track [Elektra 0-66486,1991] & it is not only the bassline with the same notes & same execution, more elements sounds similar but one track is before than the other so you judge.

Fantastic for its day and age, unquestionably it is. The only thing that strikes me even more is how Speedy J has sucessfully outdone himself with the next one, G-Spot". While "Ginger" displays a musical innocence he never looked backed to, as a producer and craftman, Jochem Paap only evolved and went on to forge even greater things afterwards. It's a great album, though, which showcases a broad array of sounds and ideas that would later on prove to be staples in a fair chunk of IDM albums. With an impressive ease he moves through various stops of electronic music; be it trance, soulful techno, slick electro or straight up ambient, the man rocks it like very few can. Full of deep, emotional tunes which don't move with haste, but deliver thoroughably enjoyable and dense material suitable for couch embracing afternoons.   It may never fully master the trancey IDM territory like his sophomore album does, and it will hardly ever reach or gain the thought provoking, genre bending and challenging status "Public energy #1" and "A shocking hobby" have, but nevertheless, "Ginger" remains a must own to fans of early Warp, Plus 8 and R & S Records. It skilfully embodies the overall feel electronic music can provide you with through a single album. It's lovely. One of those old school gems where the 'dare do' mentality is shamelessly clasped in both arms. 4/5.