UNLVD Socalled / Enrico Macias Sleepover (The Freed) 2011 Listen

With his spectacles, receding hairline and unkempt brown curls, SoCalled’s mad-professor looks are a fine match for his explosive music. On his latest concoction, Sleepover, the multitalented Quebecer (he also turns out comic books, films and press articles) roughly kneads together jazz, rap, soul and klezmer sounds, r ‘n’ b, ragga dancehall, disco and more. Too much, you might think, especially after the addition of more than thirty guest artists, ranging from Enrico Macias to Chilly Gonzales, and including the American rappers C-Rayz Walz and Roxanne Shanté, and Trinidad’s star calypso singer Mighty Sparrow.  

SoCalled, aka Josh Dolgin, recently admitted to the Montreal Gazette that he couldn’t resist the urge to work with so many ”cool, beautiful, funny” people. The mega cast turned into the biggest challenge of the album, which houses names and songs that no normal person would ever dream of putting together, like for example the mix of techno, hip hop and saraband klezmer on the track Sleepover.

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His risqué shake-up results in an inventive, energetic cocktail. The sugar comes from the unsettling, heady voice of Katie Moore (who sings on nearly all the tracks), and the vitamins are the dance beats and flows provided by all the other singers (special mention goes to Enrico Macias, who neatly slots into the Arab-romantic UNLVD, and Quebecer rapper Sans Pression’s clear-cut stream on Kid Again).

After several years anchored in Montreal, SoCalled seams to have digested all the town’s cosmopolitan openness. He’s not the kind to wear blinkers on stage and he is definitely worth experiencing live. During performances, he enlivens his songs with hilarious puppet shows, revealing yet another of his professional talents.

SoCalled Sleepover (Dare to Care Records) 2011
Playing live on Monday 11 July 2011 at the Café de la Danse, Paris then on tour.