...solos as duos...

I've recently highlighted new albums from Jamie Lidell and The Quantic Soul Orchestra (whose primary mover-&-shaker is Will Holland). In their recent past, they've both participated in duos. Jamie in Super_Collider and Will in The Limp Twins. Hmmm... really?, you say. How 'bout that. It also helps that they both slam pretty damn hard. Super_Collider features Christian Vogel, who is a famed solo artist in his own right, on the beats while Jamie belts out his oddly English soul. Thus creating what I consider to be the first, and still possibly the best, melding of IDM and real honest singing. (I don't count the mindless number of half-whispered vocals that every 'whiteboy with a powerbook in his dormroom' released prior.) With The Limp Twins (apart from both Quantic and QSO), Will teams up with singer Russell Porter to create a more simplified funk. His mellow vocal style helps the music to shuffle it's way towards a quiet yet intense beat. Take a large helping of early-70's soul and mix it with two white English men, you either get The Limp Twins or Super_Collider. Or both sometimes.

Super_Collider
Closetails
Raw Digits
Rise Robots Rise

The Limp Twins
Moving Closer To The Sofa
Tales From Beyond The Groove
Tru Thoughts