Baby Ford: Gravy Train 12" (Perlon)

It’s been a while since I checked out what Baby Ford has been up to. Anyone who’s followed his odd career path may be familiar with his acid house and pop leanings in the late 80s / early 90s before reducing and subtracting into the most minimal of techno by the late 90s / early 00s. He usually returns to the ultra-lean Perlon imprint now and then for a slab of weird minimal goodness and “Gravy Train” is no exception. The title cut is a strange bulbous number that suggests label heads Pantytec with its incorporation of his strange affected vocals and little sycopated details. It has an oblique house groove but it’s the odd vocal and percussive nuances that propel it from start to close. For the more adventurous DJ there’s an a capella treatment that proceeds it for mixing purposes.

However, for me it’s the B-side that makes this one really worth it. Rather than the icy cool of the A-side, it’s got a vague neo-trance quality to it, with a persistent, warm bassline and scattered series of chords that shimmer under the surface. I suppose it’s a lot more obvious of a track than the A-side, but it’s also so gorgeous and strident that it’s hard to argue with. When the bassline drops out altogether about three quarters into the track, it’s dead on with timing and makes everything seem just right.

Buy it: Bent Crayon | Boomkat