It's Real, by Black Affair (12" on V2)

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TRACKLISTING: (A) It’s Real (A2) Fingerability (B1) It’s Real (Playgroup Remix)

OVERVIEW: One of the UK's great musical pioneers - Steve Mason - returns in summer 2008 with his fantastic new solo project - BLACK AFFAIR - and an irresistible single - “It’s Real” -  lifted from the sublime debut, “Pleasure, Pressure, Point”, released on V2/Cooperative Music in July.

For the whole of last year the man behind The Beta Band and King Biscuit Time was at work in his studio, writing songs about obsession and dangerous sex, rediscovering his teenage love for house music, electro, and dodgy Manchester nightclubs like Konspiracy, then flew to NY to mix the white-hot results with fellow maverick genius Jimmy Edgar.

And how does it sound? Like a magical odyssey round the best 80s clubs, retro yet modern, dark yet euphoric, sexy and sophisticated. Some artists cut themselves off from the outside world when they’re making a record, but Mason did the opposite. He plugged himself directly into a whole world of R&B, electro, hip-hop, house and techno. This specifically involved digging out old Jodeci, Montell Jordan, ‘80s electro like Kleer,  Neneh Cherry’s first album, early hip-hop a la The World Class Wrecking Crew and Detroit techno and weaving it all into his heady electronic mix-up.

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