Post + Beam

This second full-length from Gavin Froome finds the Vancouver native coming on strong and subtle. Froome's 1999 LP, Mobile Villager, drew critical acclaim from the likes of Mixmag, Straight No Chaser and DJ Laurent Garnier. It's nice to be reminded as to why. Post + Beam also sees Froome connecting the musical dots between sounds, though here he's traded in much of his disco loops, filters and funk for a more refined approach. This album is not all about the dance floor, instead slowly and gently working its way to body parts that don't necessarily sway. This said, "Stingray" is a late night dance floor classic in the making, with gentle keys building to great, solid 4/4 beats and bumping bass. Froome is, in fact, an accomplished keyboardist with a distinctive, jazzy and heavily delayed signature sound. "Concorde" becomes perfect dream-state material, thanks to a jazzy organ's blurring of boundaries. The hooky keys in "Assateague" pull us in, lending a classic feel as lovely little vocal bits drift over house beats. An appreciation for jazz is especially apparent in the quirky, warm and rich broken beat piece "JC-120" and during the wonderfully textured "S.M.O.K.E." This percussive, Rhodes-spiced winner is smooth and easy on the ears - definitely a close your eyes on the dance floor kind of vibe. And, of course, Gavin wouldn't be Gavin without some deep tech-house goods. "Deprive" sets us up for the super-sexy "Skunks," a masterful piece of work that swirls and soothes even as it beckons the body to move. Froome tours much of the country during late October through November; don't sleep on his live PA set.
-Denise Benson, exclaim.ca, Oct 01, 2001