in love: sorcerer

If you love the smooth dubbiness of Studio’s languorous guitar lines on their debut CD West Coast, I think I may have another pick for you…

Sorcerer is the handiwork of Daniel Saxon Judd, who also records as part of cheery indie rockers Call and Response. The sunshine pop of his other band comes to the surface in Sorcerer on his debut album White Magic in a different way. These are groovy tracks, reminiscent of some of the better lounge-y soundtrack techno, that people have been making for years and putting on Pottery Barn compilations.

The big difference here, to these ears at least, is that Judd floats between these various chillout styles quite easily, raining down hooks galore on tracks like “Surfing at Midnight,” “Bamboo Brainwave” (Air travels to Latin America), and “Popsicle Orange” (a bubbly synth-pop corker). The best tune, though, is “Slow Burning Hands,” which All Music Guide reviewer Ned Raggett describes as having “everything from a slowed-down mariachi beat to lush electric guitar washes interspersed with soft acoustic filigrees.”