Color Strip

What made Detroit techno stand out from the acid house vibe of the late 80s was its bleakness; it was beautiful but melancholy -perfect music to listen to on the headphones as you wandered through the post industrial landscape. Jimmy Edgar, a young son of the Motor City, stays true to that vibe in his rather excellent new album.

Edgar seems happy to mine the past, not with slavish nostalgia, but with a desire to create emotional textures and atmospheres, using delightfully economic production throughout.

There's an old skool electro feel to "My Beats" and "Personal Information", conjuring up memories of those mid-80s StreetSound compilations. The opening track "Pret 'a' Porter" is a little wonder, skipping along with a nod to Akufen, but somehow never quite losing the compelling unease which runs throughout Color Strip.

At heart this is a soul album, synthetic but rooted in human experience. I recommend it to anyone who wants a little happy sadness in their summer.