Neighborbood Science

Detroit had already established links to West London's broken beat massive when John Arnold stepped out with his first full-length, Neighborhood Science. Planet E's U.S. release of 2000 Black's The Good Good compilation, along with Recloose's dynamite Cardiology, all but made the Motor City broken beat's second home. So this — along with Ayro's own album, released almost simultaneously — seals the connection. Also prior to this, Arnold had been known as a mover in his city, with 12" releases on Derrick May's Fragile and Transmat labels; he also had experience under his belt as a guitarist with the jazz groups Blackman & Arnold and Jazzhead. Neighborhood Science brings these two worlds together without struggle, with forward-looking beat construction married to an affinity for contemporary sounds that owe a thing or two to Innervisions-era Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock's Columbia years. (An unfaithful cover of Future Shock's "Rough" is one of the album's most keyed-up tracks.) There are moments when Arnold seems satisfied enough after developing a groove that's merely nice and functional, and those weak spots usually come when he's not receiving some sort of help from his friends — that said, it's good that there are only a couple songs where the likes of Ayro (vocals, Moog), Amp Fiddler (vocals, Rhodes), and Malik Alston (vocals) aren't pitching in. Like the best broken beat production teams, Arnold and his crew are able to twist their inspirations enough to avoid throwback status, and they're proficient enough to make club music that's as complex as it is contemporary. A loose, free-spirited album with oodles of bright energy emanating from its grooves, Neighborhood Science asks one question and one question only: why ask to only borrow sugar from the fellow next door when you can have him play keyboards and sing on one of your songs?