Leggo Beast

I wanna live in the house that Murray Clarke, the Beast himself, has built. His world is lush, relaxed and more beautiful than any supermodel could ever hope to be. One half of the now defunct Bullitnuts, Clarke was clearly the more organic-leaning 'Nut. Heavily influenced by jazz and late ’60s/early ’70s soul and funk, he has seamlessly blended sampled and sequenced beats with horns, live bass and spacy keys, giving us 16 stunning instrumental excursions. The light, airy, yet decidedly grounded "Mudlark" opens on this exact note, giving way to tracks such as "One Size Fits All," where simulated tablas and melancholic bass hooks sit atop thick beats, resulting in a thoughtful head nodder. The lovely "Bizarre Love Pentangle" reminds of early Mo' Wax gone 2000. With its rare groove sampled rhythms, airy keys and true sense of melody, the track is heart warming. Things get seriously funky with the upped tempos of "Dream Topping" and "Itchy Feet," where Clarke's strong songwriting and brilliant editing skills result in far from straight ahead toe-tapping adventures. And, if ya haven't melted by now, "Step Up" and hear the horn blow — super-chilled beats, stand-up bass, harp and horns galore are ready to take you away.