Heliocentrics

Heliocentrics – Out There

James Brown said it: Play every instrument as if it was a drum. Malcolm Catto, a UK drummer whose obsession for soul 7-inches provided the basis for three funk compilations (Midwest Funk, Texas Funk and Florida Funk), has turned his dusty fingered hobby and vast knowledgeable repertoire into a full length study of spaced out funk. With his relentless drumming, The Heliocentrics resemble the coming together of several ideas – the sparse, heady funk of No Wave artists ESG, the spatial and cutting-edge recording arrangements of David Axelrod, and the experimental and celestial jazz devotion of Sun Ra - all orbiting and influencing each others gravitational pull. “Distant Star” grabs your attention instantly with its crisp snare and hard bass thumps that decorated with a robotic-tinted organ and sound collages, revolving around sci-fi space exploration to the blipping sound of Sputnik. As kooky as this can all sound, at its core is the eternal beating rhythm of the best James Brown instrumental outfit in the universe.