Mandrake "Shake your space traveller" - 2000

Former New Zealand under 14 Gymnastics Champion Jeremy Coubrough knows how to throw his body round. This holds him in good stead for the frantic recording of 17 tracks under the name Mandrake. Mandrake conjures at speed: previous demos have been written and recorded in less time than it takes to make dinner. Mandrake is the soundtrack to the life of a sub-clinical ADHD sufferer, whose brain percolates with a jumbled record collection of Herbie Hancock, Boney M and Moog sounds filtered through Nintendo consoles.

'Shake your space traveller' is a jazz tinged cartoon space odyssey. Thundercats leap from emulated Ataris to stalk along the boulevards of a poptronic lounge world. Despite grounding himself in the fanciful, Mandrake never slips into whimsy, but remains surprisingly thoughtful. With Herbie Hancock as a mantra and a disciplined approach to the music, Mandrake avoids mere noodling, but never allows staidness to overtake his essential sense of play.

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