Beyond the Wizard’s Sleeve - The Soft Bounce

The Guardian 60

Phantasy Sound

Around the turn of the new millennium, the London DJ Erol Alkan got indie kids on the dancefloor at the London club, Trash, spearheading a fertile crossover between alternative rock and hard beats. This collaboration with his remix partner Richard Norris finds him in more reflective, psychedelic mode, on an absorbing chill-out album with an eclectic cast and a varied palette. Highlights include Mystery Jets’s Blaine Harrison wigging out Sabbath-style on the crunching Iron Age; Euros Childs sounding sweetly spaced-out on the gently circling Door to Tomorrow; and the Magnetic North’s Hannah Peel cooing airily over the Stereolab/Broadcast-style, dark psych-pop of Delicious Light – but the Soft Bounce is a trip best taken as a whole.