Mind Enterprises - Idealist

Turin born, London based musician and songwriter Andrea Tirone releases his latest Mind Enterprises album Idealist at the start of February. I was looking forward to this, not least because seminal post punk funk genius Salvatore Principato of Liquid Liquid (their track Cavern became White Lines for Grandmaster Flash) had produced some of his earlier stuff. The tunes are a blend of up to the minute production, funk bass, Afrobeat rhythms and vintage Detroit house. He’s been inspired by William Onyeabor (YouTube Atomic Bomb, you won’t regret it!) but more obvious are the influences of Caribou, Gotye, Kevin Sanderson and Tango In The Night-era Fleetwood Mac. I don’t usually like to compare artists, but nothing sounded untainted by homage; even Phil Collins provides a vocal benchmark on Confusion.“It’s a magic kind of feeling when they’re skating on thin ice” we hear on dub strum-along Bad Habit, ironically, as Idealist suffers from a lack of danger. Desire, loss, passion and fun are equally absent. Electro Afrobeat groover Lover Boy has chart chops but is not gutsy enough for me to cut a rug. Lead single Chapita has a fair bit of restrained funk and some Inner City sounds which perhaps gives an impression of an album it couldn’t live up to. Good luck to them, this is a pretty nice listen, but I probably won’t stick it on again. I like a bit more oomph and personality in the mix.