Posted on 02/22/2007

 

Those familiar with DJ Kero One’s work are in for no surprises on this one. After dropping the excellent Plug Famalam last year, the San Francisco vinyl enthusiast delivers Uptempo’s How We Keeps It, and the title speaks for itself; smoothly mixing 60 minutes of uptempo soul, jazz-influenced broken beat, and bossa-influenced disco, his latest mixtape is a bouncy upbeat soundtrack to accompany whatever task requires it. Uptempo’s musical ingredients draw from over the course of three decades in a form seamless enough to mask the temporal disparity between, say, Family of Eve’s soulful 1978 contribution “Please Be Truthful” and the brazilectro (I’m claiming that phrase now) funk Kenny Dope brings to his remix of Sabrina Malheiros’ “Estacao Verao” from a few years back.

Truthfully, the rattling off of names and contributions is ultimately unimportant in the grand scheme of this mix; though this music is mentally stimulating, its true purpose is to incite movement, and by that account it succeeds. While a lack of variety might be apparent enough not to mention, one can’t blame a mixtape designed to keep a continuous groove going for doing its job. The title spells it out for you. For those looking for a sustained grooving vibe, Uptempo delivers.