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Review: Blue Lab Beats, Rough Trade – ‘Coming up strong’
Jazztronica is a fine form of musical fusion, and Blue Lab Beats are bringing their take to the table.
The duo — comprising multi-instrumentalist MR DM and producer NK-OK — combine mesmerising, meandering jazz turns with punchy hip-hop beats and sonic soundscapes. With four albums out in six years, they’re pretty prolific in building a body of work, at least by the measure of many modern artists.
This show at Rough Trade Bristol is funky, if a little fleeting. It serves as a taster of their latest record, Blue Eclipse, and gives but a glimpse of their genuine talents.
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MR DM seamlessly switches between scintillating keys work and swinging guitar rhythms (which, I am notified, he plays left-handed and upside down, a la Hendrix). He is brilliant and seemingly zoned in. Steel-faced throughout, he affords himself only the occasional bop.
NK-OK brings playful production and infectious positive energy to proceedings. His ever-present smile sweeps the room and keeps people moving. If his turns on the portable drum machine seem a little rogue – ultra-processed percussion occasionally muddies the genuine joy of what MR DM’s turning out – a friend points out that ‘in the studio that sort of playfulness is super important.’
The music’s textured to high heaven, and most of the time I’m here for it. Some stretches sound like a particularly immersive section of ‘Sonic Advance’; some channel St Germain; others have major main titles energy for your next favourite movie. Yet at times it’s difficult to discern what’s syncopation by design and what is too off-beat.
Accompanying musicians and vocalists, adding nuance to their albums, would bring the duo’s live performance up a notch. Alas, they can’t tour smaller shows with such a setup, and they play the hand they’re dealt very capably.
Blue Lab Beats have turned out several genuinely impressive bodies of nu-jazz. They signed to the legendary Blue Note Records in 2020, have worked with a wealth of artists from Dua Lipa to Thundercat, and won a GRAMMY for production on Angelique Kidjo‘s Best Global Music Album winner Mother Nature.
So they’re coming up, and they’re coming up strong. If this little session is anything to go by, there’s promise and power in Blue Lab Beats’ ‘soulful instrumental sermons’. This outing left me with a handful more questions than answers, but maybe that’s precisely the idea. Maybe that’s what will keep me coming back for a little more.
Main photo: Samuel Fletcher
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