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LP
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DIAG 048LP
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Strange Rabbits is a bittersweet kiss to chill-out room jungle and ambient techno by Jimmy Donadio, using an early alias, StabUdown Productions, to mark his return to personalized, esoteric electronics after years of raw bangers under the Prostitutes guise. Pushed to write some melodic tracks for the crack of it by Powell, Jimmy drew from his current record buying habit for early jungle and ambient techno to produce an unusually affected batch primed for the kind of back room/chillout room sessions which used to be common in clubs, and have essentially morphed into afterparty/domestic rave soundtracks nowadays. Reacquainting himself with the shine-eyed wonder and sensuality of dance music's beta stream, Strange Rabbits refracts NYC deep house and European electronics via the prism of early jungle and Jimmy's fuzzy memory. Its ten tracks reveal his tender underbelly like just the right amount of Mandy, resulting a psychedelically sensuous and driving album characteristic of the sincerity and allusive impressionism that's long been key to his work, but rarely so thizzingly effusive. Hypnotic highlights such as "Wizard Upholstery" and "Teenage Scream Dreamer" recall Stakker's early techno prototypes, while "New Ogre" and the cubist-electro of "Warm Woods" shimmy like Richard H. Kirk in NYC. Yoghurt weaving, proto-Goa trance shares dancing room with the gnostic bleeps of "Wizard Upholstery", and the slow burn swing of "Totally Coral Reef" and "Koln Alone" properly nail a hair-kissing, head massage-worthy techno-hippy vibe that's been conspicuous by its absence from contemporary floors -- especially for anyone old to remember how it used to be. The deeply charming results amount to the most diverse, techno-spirited, and pop-friendly work in StabUdown's singular catalog, serving to lend a lush new horizon to Jimmy Donadio's previously furrowed rave outlook, and in a way comparable with everyone from NWAQ and DJ Sprinkles and Not Waving. Art by Guy Featherstone. Master and cut at Dubplates & Mastering.
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