Future Classic: Karl Hector and The Malcouns “Can’t Stand The Pressure”

Karl Hector & The Malcouns drift through exotic styles on a desert wind toasting ‘Can’t Stand the Pressure’ with trademark psyche-funk. Their wanderings over this ‘Future Classic’ are pieced together from the group’s not-so forgotten four EP series of ‘Tamanrasset’, ‘Coomassi’, ‘Ngugna Yeti Fofa’ and the current ‘Ka Rica Tar’. Spanning four wax-slabs and extended CD/DL editions, NowAgain have cast some magic and raised the Karl Hector & The Malcouns’ bar.

So what’s new with ‘Can’t Stand The Pressure’?

Last things first it seems as the collectible artworks from the EP series, by Jason Jagel (designer of MF Doom’s iconic ‘Operation Doomsday’ cover), has been graced with verve for this bookend edition. Whilst the EP sleeves, with stylised font and minimal textures are familiar to fans, the characterized totems and symbols fronting ‘Can’t Stand The Pressure’ ties the room together like Lebowski’s rug.

An alchemist’s whisper of life is blown into this collection by stirring in the raw verve from the 7”s (that accompanied the original vinyl editions of ‘Sahara Swing’, Karl Hector and The Malcouns’ debut Long Player from back in Zero Eight) with the delicious artwork. This collection is a psyche-funk, stoned soul adventure with ‘Ka Rica Tar’ and ‘Ngugna Yeti Fofa’ being ‘future classics’ in their own right. The funk workouts on ‘Circles’ and ‘Chess Brakes’ hardly feel flat however, against the adventure and depth of ‘Otumpa’ and ‘Iritjal’, they do present a simple funk walk-in-the-park. They also act as respite though, as the release weighs in with a hefty 24 tracks. Cuts such as ‘Beyond Squares’ exude far-out-force exactly when needed to maintain the pressure.

The tracks lifted from the 7”s are crucial to this release and it’s a shame they don’t come as part of the collection. Four plates of wax is though surely enough to quell the hunger of most psyche-funk appetites. ‘Can’t Stand The Pressure’ is a must for fans (especially as the artwork and additional tracks are free to anyone who has brought the EPs previously), collectors and the unitiated easy-riding, desert-psyche, rocketeers.

Pete OntheCorner

Pete is a writer, researcher and beat-travelling DJ who started the On the Corner imprint to curate new afrofuturistic, jazz and tropical grooves. Searching for new forms, original sounds and gems from the canon are as important to his writing as they are to his fledgling label.