David E. Sugar - Memory Store

Like it or not, the high street windows are getting gussied up with red, silver and gold, which means the holidays are upon us. For the music minded, this means finding a great album to use as a stocking stuffer or possibly discovering something new to spin at the obligatory office party and win brownie points with the guy or girl at work you have secretly been fancying. David E. Sugar’s debut, ‘Memory Store’, might just be what you’re looking for. Sugar has been signed to Radio 1 personality / Bestival curator Rob da Bank’s label Sunday Best Recordings.

Though he’s been successful as a globetrotting, laptop-toting DJ and had some releases here and there on Joe Goddard’s Greco-Roman label (the single ‘Oi New York, This is London’) and on Kitsune, Sugar decided it was high time to put out a full album of material. ‘Party Killer’ was the first single from this album to be released, back in the summer. It’s interesting that Sugar chose the lyric ‘one touch’, considering ‘One Touch’ by LCD Soundsystem on ‘This is Happening’ released earlier this year; it’s probably just coincidence, but it leaves the opportunity for a comparison. While the LCD song is more family friendly lyrically, Sugar’s is smoother, making you want to clap your hands and boogie down. Warning: while dancing to its beats, it could make you think you’re actually better looking to that aforementioned crush than you actually are.

The best thing about this album, as it should be for a good dance record, are the beats: bass and percussion reign supreme here. The bass lines of ‘Not Revolution’ and ‘Chelsea Girls’ are funky yet fresh, a sign that disco could make a comeback soon. (Or is it already back?) The sultry mechanical intro of ‘Keep It Simple’ will remind ’80s new wave enthusiasts of the start of Duran Duran’s ‘Rio’, before the bass and drums kick in. ‘Although You Might Laugh’ features compressed synths and video game flourishes that made Sugar a trailblazer in chiptune.

What the guitar janglings that are present are few and far between, Sugar interjecting them like welcome dashes of sparkle. Melodic guitar that could rival some of the best guitar riffs in history sexes up ‘Something New’. The catchiest moment on the album, ‘Cambridge Sums’, sports strummed guitar that is less dance and more mainstream, and Sugar’s cute vocal delivery reflects this, despite singing ‘the child, he stays with you / new family, I’ve got two / divided one, the Cambridge sums / equates mathematics, and that leaves you’. Despite poppiness, it’s difficult material for a song: the not so simple sincerity of a boffin giving up his son to its mother because he knows it’s best.

Not content to ‘Keep It Simple’, Sugar wrote, recorded and produced ‘Memory Store’ on his own, and songs like ‘Cambridge Sums’ and the extremely likeable and groove-worthy ‘Did You Ever Have a Good Idea’ are good evidence he spent a lot of time thinking seriously about the lyrics. And let’s face it, regardless of sterling instrumentation, most dance albums suffer from often silly phrases and cringe-worthy word choices. Get some of this Sugar, it’s sweet.