独自の黒いグルーヴを探求してきたgrooveman Spotと、N'gaho Ta'quia名義での初作も素晴らしかったsauce81。日本屈指のビートメイカー両名によるユニットのファースト・アルバムがついに到着した。セオ・パリッシュやサー・ラー、ムーディーマンといった海外勢にも比肩する漆黒サウンドを生んできたふたりだが、今作ではジャズ、ソウル、ハウス、そしてファンクの艶めくグルーヴが際立っている印象。なかでも、Gスポットがソロ作でも見せてきた浮つくブギー・ファンクの上でsauce81がファルセットを駆使し歌う、ウィンドジャマー“Tossin' & Turnin'”のカヴァーは特筆ものの出来。密室と宇宙を行き来しながらディープに煌めくサウンドスケープは、お互いが確立したものの最良の混交だ。


[English Translation]
grooveman Spot who has always been in quest of his own distinguished black groove, and sauce81 (known for the wonderful 1st album under the name of N'gaho Ta'quia), -the two foremost Japanese beatmakers joined forces to form a new collaborative unit 77 KARAT GOLD, which finally brings us this 1st full-length album. Often compared with overseas big names such as THEO PARRISH, Sa-Ra (Creative Partners) or Moodymann, the two artists have both been energetically producing real deep black sounds, though this first joint work shines somewhat differently, with jazz/soul/house/funk-inspired glossy grooves. Especially the cover version of Windjammer’s “Tossing & Turning” notably stands out with their brilliant team play in which sauce81’s falsetto-rich singing is laid comfortably over grooveman Spot’s signature (proven by his past solo works) atmospherically floaty boogie base. Back and forth from a dark, closed room out to the universe, the deep and sparkling soundscape has been realized by the best-ratio mixture of what they’ve established respectively.