Cage & Aviary – ‘Migration’ (Internasjonal)

Electronic duo Cage & Aviary are set to release their debut album ‘Migration’ on Prins Thomas’s Internasjonal imprint this coming January.Part man, part machine, part cockatiel, Cage & Aviary take flights of fancy whenever they can. Jamie Paton is a DJ, a one-finger keyboardist, and a pot-tickler. Nigel of Bermondsey is a musician, South London’s finest oscillator, and a dedicated dabbler. Together they are winners of the cosmic lottery.Having put out releases to much acclaim on the ltd editions that are Dissident Distribution, Cage & Aviary have since spread their wings with releases on DFA, Tiny Sticks and Astro Lab. Their own label, The Walls Have Ears, is slowly carving out a reputation for quality dubbed-out dance music too – the Cage & Aviaryremix series has met with great critical acclaim thus far, with the likes of Andy Blake, Prins Thomas, Horse Meat Disco, Mock N Toof, Bill Brewster, Tim Sweeney, James Murphy, Tiga, Erol Alkan and other such luminaries counted amongst fans of their work.

Now the feathered friends are set to take a new flight of fancy as they unveil their debut album, aptly titled ‘Migration’. From the opening rolling, cinematic sheen of ‘Giorgio Carpenter (Director’s Cut)’ that openly wears its influences on its sleeve to the cosmically spaced out funk of ‘In Todd We Trust’ and slo-mo, disco-not-disco of ‘Good Egg, Bad Apple’ the pair spread their production wings across the dancefloor.

Then we teleport our selves via the Leroy Burgess funk-portal to the disco-boogie rockin’ ‘Infatuation’ whose slick-rick R&B production adds even more sex appeal to the bird-caged discotheque, whilst ‘Dead Dancers’ brings a live, percussive and guitar ‘Liquid Liquid’ vibe and then in contrast we have the shimmering and floating sun-drenched keys and vox that melt into ‘Friday the 14th Part IV’. Finally the duo sign off with the proto-house groove of ‘Lean on Me’ which featuresguest vocalist Denise Johnson (of Screamadelica and A Certain Ratio fame) and the title track ‘Migration’ which oozes yet more Moroder and Carpenter inspired funk.

With the imminent release of their debut long-player and remixes for the likes of Blancmange, things are really set to take-off. You know, like a bird.