London boy in LA, Shawn Lee returns with his seventh album in the Ping Pong Orchestra series for the most excellent Ubiquity records. This time round he draws inspiration from his travels around the world and the multicultural mix of metropolises such as New York, London and Tokyo, playing instruments he collected along the way.

From the Afrobeat of 'Lagos Calling' to the cinematic soul of 'Italia 73' to the oriental kung-fu funk of 'Chinese Chillin', to the breakbeats of 'Heist in Helsinki' – the LP not only demonstrates Shawn Lee’s talent as a multi-instrumentalist and producer, but serves a tasty platter of diverse ping pong soundscapes, fit for any old-school library album. Imagine a soundtrack to a progressive 1960s film featuring Steve McQueen as Bullit, driving his 1966 Mustang around the world, with a quick time travel to the present day for some more contemporary cuts, and you’re bang on the money.

Quite how our man Shawn puts out so much music of such a high calibre is, quite frankly, astonishing (especially if he was anything do with the recent Clutchy Hopkins release from Ubiquity). Seven long players (maybe eight?) since his signing to Ubiquity in 2004 is no mean feat. A mysterious man with a collection of vintage instruments to die for - amongst others, a rare 1967 Vox guitar with fuzz, tremolo and wah-wah built in, a 1930s double bass and a 1940s Clavioline proto-synth. If you like your sound vintage with a contemporary twist then Shawn Lee’s ping pong orchestration is for you. Clutchy would dig on it too… (Nick Radford)