All Ten Fingers

Badly Drawn Boy’s right-hand man Andy Votel has also earned his spurs as one of Manchester’s more inventive musical exports. In addition to founding Twisted Nerve Records, whose first signing was Damon Gough and his tea cosy hat, Votel has produced records by Add N to (X) and the rock n’ goal city’s King Monkey Ian Brown. He is also renowned for an Imelda Marcos sized collection of trainers and used to be nicknamed DJ Empty Dancefloor.

All Ten Fingers is Votel’s follow up to his 2000 debut Styles Of The Unexpected. It’s a similar stew of instrumental pop, beats, strings, brass and kooky effects. Only four tracks have vocals, and in keeping with the Death in Vegas penchant of inviting your musical heroes along for the ride, Malcolm Mooney, formerly of seminal electronic pop pioneers Can guests on the charming ‘Salted Tangerines’.

At best, All Ten Fingers is a wonderful late night/early morning record. At worst, it sounds like a bunch of out-takes from The Hour Of Bewilderbeast sessions, which could well be construed as a very good thing. The breadth and range of Votel’s compositions are very admirable but they sorely lack the killer hooks or that little sprinkle of genius to make them truly memorable.

Twisted Nerve fetishists and BDB disciples will love this, while the rest of us will be mildly impressed. In the context of the Mancunian musical renaissance of recent years, it’s further proof of just how eclectic and rich in talent and vibes that tremendous city is.