Dancers is the ideal title for the debut album from London based Parisian Tim Paris, each of its tracks whether an open flirtation or a more chilled proposition, a vibrant adventurous waltz. Better known as one half of It’s a Fine Line with Ivan Smagghe, Paris has sculpted songs which pull the imagination into unpredictable and vivacious soundscapes. Each one is distinct and stands alone in the tapestry of the release but have a symbiotic union which provides one refreshingly inventive landscape for senses and emotions to bask in. Dancers ebbs and flows in success across its body it is fair to say but only to waiver within a constant magnetic seduction which never relinquishes its strength.
As renowned for his remix invention which has seen him reinterpreting invention from the likes of The XX, Femi Kuti, Battant, Au Revoire Simone, Ewan Pearson, and Tiga, the DJ, producer, and musician now unleashes his own electronic alchemy through the album, merging the purest essences of synth pop, new wave, post punk, electronica, disco, house, and much more for transfixing and evocative aural climates. Dancers provides insights into richly flavoursome cinematic scenes but also ones which have an intimacy which goes beyond voyeurism to draw the listener emotionally into the imaginative investigations. Featuring a wealth of guests, the album is also a collaborative affair embraced by the creative ingenuity of Paris.
Opening track Golden Ratio strides boldly in on punchy beats and an electro tinkling which reminds instantly of Love Cats by The Cure 
though it takes little time to show its own distinct tease to the coaxing. The song then infuses intriguing melodic lures which do not nestle easily within the established pulse of the song but only accentuates the awakening potency. Featuring Georg Levin of Wahoo, the song opens up warm arms of melody bred enticement and smooth vocal expression which are themselves veined by intriguing twists of enterprise and electronic investigation. The post punk strict rhythmic heartbeat steers the journey allowing thoughts to take in the radiant sights and absorbing atmosphere. It is an adventure which midway takes a breath to return with an even more masterful hold on the appetite, a case of absence making the heart grow fonder.
The enticing start is matched by Rain which sees the guest appearance of Coco Solid of the Parallel Dance Ensemble. The song drips slightly chilled riffs down upon the ear whilst a rhythmic shuffle hurries across the senses. It is another alluring start given extra drama by the skirting dark throated bass, the combination building a striking premise which is enriched further by the cyber kissed vocal narrative. The repetitive spine of the track bewitches constantly; the stark core holding Joy Division/Bauhaus like predation around which the elegant and mesmeric call of the song spreads and croons.
The metallic breath of Outback, Stones & Vinyl soaks the ears next, the initial caress of the song courting a John Foxx essence which never leaves the infectious persuasion. As the track explores its seductive canvas, building and colouring the imagination with inspiring textures, the instrumental toys with the senses further, stretching its provocative enveloping with an additional Bill Nelson like invention. Like standing on a heaven lit cliff top whilst warm winds and sights wrap rivetingly around the senses, the song puts the listener in a hypnotic almost meditative emotional trance.
The following Minireich which features Sex Judas and Rupert Cross and Disco Ellipse both create a transfixing dancefloor bred temptation, though the pair tantalise and shimmer in their enticement rather than leap upon the eagerness of feet. The first has a definite Yello feel to its mischievous invention, vocally and in the devilish temptation offered whilst its successor is a cybernetic tango, flashing sonics and dazzling electronics spraying their bait around before the emotive weave of distressed melodies and restrained bedlam make their play successfully for the passions. Those nor the next up Unsung Deaf Hero fire up the same intensity of hunger and thrills as the opening songs but all captivate and refuse to release the album’s hold, the third of the trio a smothering wash of thick ambiences and funk spawned vocals casting a dark dance of inciting suggestiveness and mystery.
Dancers is back to dominating senses and mind with the outstanding drama of The Grip. With Ben Shemie, Paris lays a noir bred sinister atmosphere within which guitar and rhythms stalk the imagination, the encounter a soundtrack which could easily grace any caped crusader or futuristic darkly shadowed enigma. All the tracks allow the mind to run riot with their aural paint but this more than most conjures up stories and emotions to intoxicatingly bask in.
You’ll Never Know also creates a tenebrous encounter to immerse within, it’s again noir crafted riddle an imposing and incendiary fuse for an adventurous mind to run with whilst ears welcome the varied vocal hues and electronic weaves. It is a blend which is just as alluring in the slightly lighter Extreme Nails, its celestial stroll within a heavy but slow rhythmic frame a beacon for the listener to explore in their own design. Shadows as across most tracks are never far away with their tempering relish though they have to take more of a backseat within the fruity exploits of Heaven Parking which again sees Sex Judas involved. There is a subdued but visible lunacy to the song which brings thoughts of the eighties Martin Atkins band Brian Brain. It is a thrilling revelry which steps aside for the equally delicious Backseat Reflexion to close the album. The song sees Forrest joining Paris in a last irresistible seduction, electronics and melodies aligning within a shadow built emotional seduction.
It is a masterful end to a similarly consummate release, Dancers offering a collection of emotive and provocative vignettes which absorb thoughts and passions like a sponge for exhilarating experiences and adventures. Apart from the length of a few tracks stretching their staying power to clutch at straws in an attempt to temper the enthusiasm, Tim Paris has provided his finest hour with his own solo release, the first of many we hope and suspect.
Dancers is available on 2 x 12″ vinyl, CD, and download right now via My Favorite Robot Records.
http://www.facebook.com/djtimparis
9/10
RingMaster 12/04/2014
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
Listen to the best independent music and artists on The RingMaster Review Radio Show and The Bone Orchard from
air with sonic persistence matched by a rhythmic enticement. The first piece of insidiously addictive weaponry is unleashed within seconds, a repetition driven groove entwining the senses with seductive potency as the vocals of Fisher offer a mutually monotone seeded suasion. Into its full drone bred swagger, the track baits the emotions with a mix of The Gaa Gaas like psyche temptation and the post punk causticity and repeating moroseness of Joy Division. It is a magnetising provocation which worms itself under the skin with an insatiable toxicity and an intensively powerful lure into release and band.
inventive devilry as well as that of XTC whose song on the White Noise album, the band named themselves after. To be honest anyone reaping the influences of one of our eternally favourite bands is given a head start with us though their music obviously has to do the talking, which on Assembly it loudly does. From the beginning of the opener Stranger’s Bed, the band lays an infectious hand on the imagination and passions as they cavort with the relish of a maniacal puppeteer. Thumping anthemic drums seize instant attention, setting things up for the jangle of guitars to add their own bait around the expressive vocals of Chapman. Into its infectious stride soon after the track stomps with a rhythmic vivacity and range of hooks which the Buzzcocks would be proud of, indeed the overall sound has a rich essence of the Mancunian band as well as the discordant enterprise of Medway band Houdini. It is an undemanding and thoroughly giving slab of post punk pop with a fuzzy breath to increase the appeal.
dark bass and guitar beckoning. It is a gentle coaxing which erupts into a charged gait veined with a combination attack of guitar and bass with a prize-fighter hook which seals an immediate submission from imagination and emotions. There is also a punk breath to its lure whilst the entrancing vocals of Landrum add a gothic rock lilt alongside the dark group harmonies. Alongside a dark heavy metal stirring it all makes for something unexpected and enthralling, like a union of Sisters Of Mercy, Danzig, Joy Division, and Venom which excites and awakens a strong appetite.
Breath coating it in a hazier almost suffocating atmosphere and acidic ambience. It is a creature which permeates every pour and thought whilst engaging them on a corrosive dance of enterprise and enchanting mystery. The opening call of the song is a close relation to Blondie’s Atomic, a whisper which never truly evaporates as the track wraps its causticity and temptation around the ear. The vocals of Werlemar are dark and sinisterly seductive complimenting the shadows of the track whilst the keys and guitar temper each other’s strengths to sculpt a union which pulls appetite and imagination deep and eagerly into the song’s textured depths. With elements of Artery and Jesus and Mary Chain also making their essences open within the psychedelia licked sonic soup, the song is a vibrant and enthralling lure which earns and offers stronger rewards with each journey within its stifling beauty.
It is a riveting first stop on the imaginative travelogue of sound and invention, a brewing rhythmic virulence emerging from a sonic mist to mark its first call. A cavernous breath calls from within that evocative chilled ambience as restrained whispered vocals tempt and coax in the passions further. Submission to the deliciously claustrophobic toxic fumes is unavoidable especially as voice and rhythms darken their presence and intensity to crowd and incite the imagination and emotions further. It is a staggering entrance of repetitive discordance which strongly pushes forth that Wire reference, which is confirmed and cemented in thoughts by the following On A Knife Edge. Another bait of rhythms beckons whilst a minimalistic bass and guitar call alongside the again reserved yet expressive spoken vocals seduces with ridiculous ease. Once the narrative sends the delivery of Fielder into a more mania bred uncertainty there is a sense of The Mae Shi to the song which merges with post punk chills of again Wire for a captivating almost nightmarish wonder.
and even more so once the darker heavier bass tone takes its place in the persuasion. A niggling groove taunts the ear in the background before sheltering behind the soon involved intensive walls of rhythmic narrative led by the punkish vocals of Hawkins. Magnetic and contagious the song is like the greatest evil, menacing, fiercely intrusive, and wholly seductive. Post punk whispers are a healthy by-product of the instrumentation and just as welcome as the caustic touch of the song, the whole inspired union a striking first encounter.