| In amongst the backstreets of Manchester music labels, between the high rises of Twisted Nerve and Grand Central and behind the funky frontage of Faith and Hope is the serene and very tidy little wonder that is Melodic, home of simple beautiful music. Melodic is home to all things enchanting, to tiny bleeps and tidy beats, to Arab Strap side projects and wandering Twisted Nervers in the shape of Pedro, aka James Rutledge, sometime solo and sometime member of DOT. Pedro is Rutledge's debut album, the result of a four year gestation and there's plenty to it that suggests the wait has been worth it, even if Rutledge has paid a little too much attention to his peers at times. The album owes a lot to the looming drama of DJ Shadow and Andy Weatherall, particularly in the quieter building moments like the haunting "Fear & Resilience," that explodes a drum beat in the style of Shadow's Endtroducing album. But the nods to influences don't dominate the tunes and in the desolate piano of "Intro" and "Outro," the spiralling pulse-beats of "These Pixels Weave A Person," the twisted notes of "123," and the thrown scratches of "Seven Eight," Rutledge has hit on something beautiful. Pedro is a weaving three in the morning kind of album, just the thing for a sunrise. It ghosts in and out of your soul and touches you in a simple way. Melodic's reputation of being the Mancunian home to gently stunning music continues... - BBC |
![MH-240 Pedro - Pedro [2006 Edition]](/album_art_front/MH240_F.jpg)
1XLP/Out Of Print