Eric Lau是诞生在英国伦敦的香港移民,音乐制作人。你可能听过他的音乐却没听说过他的人。这张New Territories是他的首张个人专辑。清新简单的音乐配以干净优美的人声,很适合一个人时候聆听。
Eric Lau is a London-based producer who has been busy making musical waves for others. He may well be a producer you’ve heard, but not heard of, by way of his productions for the likes of Lupe Fiasco, Dudley Perkins, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Guilty Simpson, Wildchild, Tanya Morgan, Hil St Soul, and a family of up n’coming artists who feature on New Territories, his debut solo album.by Andy Kellman
Eric Lau's New Territories has something in common with NSM's Turn It Up, DKD's Future Rage, and the more relaxed tracks of 4hero's Play with the Changes, but the recent album from the U.K. it recalls most is Silhouette Brown's self-titled 2005 release. Like Silhouette Brown, New Territories reduces the more energetic, dancefloor-oriented aspects of London broken beat, retains the deceptive abstractions of left-field hip-hop and R&B, and places equal emphasis on mood and songwriting. One possible set of coordinates for Silhouette Brown producers Dego McFarlane and Kaidi Tatham and Lau includes Patrice Rushen's "Remind Me" and Roy Ayers Ubiquity's "Searching" as remixed or covered by the Soulquarians -- gentle, nuanced, moving R&B that is equally geared for a relaxed night at home or summer day driving. While Silhoutte Brown showcased one principal vocalist and a set of background singers, New Territories features a number of lead vocalists (who all get songwriting credits), with all the production and most of the instrumentation handled by Lau, a Chinese producer born and raised in the U.K. who is occasionally joined by associates on guitar, flute, and keyboards. Tawiah (one track), Sarina Leah (four), Rahel (six), Meshach Brown (two), Tosin (one), and Annabel (one) are all lively yet not showy vocalists and, as with Lau, a healthy balance between love for the '70s/'80s and '90s/'00s is evident, their voices hinting at Donnie Hathaway and Deniece Williams as often as Aaliyah and Amel Larrieux. Lau could ride out just about each of his beats for two or three extra minutes without catching any heat, but he keeps it moving -- the longest cut is just short of four minutes, only further emphasizing the album's song-based nature. The disc will not resequence your DNA, but it is sturdily designed for the purpose of compulsive listening.