Sorcerer

If you're going to kick off an album with a song called "Divers Do It Deeper," you should either be really good with the comedy or just really good, period. Sorcerer, the nom de plume (or beat) of Dan Judd from the band Call & Response, aims for the good in general, happily, and if White Magic isn't a suddenly out-of-nowhere high point for music in 2007, it is an easygoing but not lazy blend of dance styles that aims for the gently upbeat. Like a fair number of fellow musical travelers, Sorcerer's main fascination seems to lie with a kind of not-quite-real-but-close vision of dance music at the turn of the '80s as a multifaceted blend between understated funk and disco, proto-chillout jazz, and early digital electronic production in general. If the vision isn't per se unique, the execution matters most, and while White Magic almost works better in individual moments rather than as a full album -- though it might have worked best as a continual mix -- those moments can be solid ones, as with the tight guitar riff on "Surfing at Midnight" and "Egyptian Sunset" or the just-anthemic-enough synth flow on "Blind Yachtsman" and "Airbrush Dragon," the latter of which manages the neat trick of suggesting any number of electronic pioneers and popularizers without specifically sounding like any. An even better standout is "Slow Burning Hands," which seems to have everything from a slowed-down mariachi beat to lush electric guitar washes interspersed with soft acoustic filigrees. It might not be a full-on beat apocalypse, but as its own take on a form it's still a reflective treasure, suggesting sunny beaches and the ability to get away from it all, even if only briefly. by ned Raggett