Chop Suey Presents AM & Shawn Lee // Don't Talk To The Cops

Let us welcome you to the latest sun-filled, space funk masterwork by AM & Shawn Lee: La Musique Numerique. The 2nd LP (following 2011's much heralded Celestial Electric) sees the duo expanding their influences while simultaneously refining their sound. La Musique Numerique tightens up the production, blending early digital technology with decade blurring songwriting transporting listeners deeper into the sonic crates from which the music was born.

Album lead off "Two Times" introduces the album perfectly with a tip of the hat to Sleng Teng Riddim's technological origin: the Casio MT-40 keyboard. What follows is a pulsating sex groove complete with unexpected synth jabs and smooth soulful vocals: a space capsule where Curtis Mayfield and Sly & Robbie play the host. The album finales with an ambitious and successful rendition of Joe Jackson's 1982 hit "Steppin' Out", a version that sees the new wave classic taken deeper into the cosmos.

La Musique Numerique's interstellar journey takes you in and out of faded memories of disco, funk, soul and reggae but never sets foot on any of these planets; never colonizes one style. It's not a secret the duo dig deep into obscure musical wells gaining approval from other like minded obsessives like Finders Keeper's Andy Votel and vintage Sound Library re-vivalist Jonny Trunk. However these out-sound influences aren't plugged into a computer program and spit out through modern day micro technology. The instruments are played, the vocals are sung and the songs are written, proving an even stronger connection to the past. The music is still a very physical process, something that has become apparent with the duo's growing live fan base.