London-born, Birmingham-based producer and electronic music artist, Joe Flory. Flory’s musical career began with his first musical project, Primary 1. With the release of Primary 1′s No Thrills, Flory had a growing profile across the European Union as he had toured as a backing drummer with Chilly Gonzales and The Kaiser Quartett. His solo production and recording project. Amateur Best started in earnest when Flory relocated to Birmingham to fully concentrate on sharpening his songwriting and production skills.

So far, Flory’s solo recording project has been praised by the British blogosphere for a sound that compares favorably to  electro pop duo Cassius, the soundtrack work of Michael Nyman, as well as The Avalanches, David Sylvian and Ryuchi Nakamoto — although as I’ve mentioned from the release of “They Know,” the first single off his recently released The Gleaners and the recently released second single, “White Noise,” Flory’s sound reminds me much more of Barbarossa, as both singles pair Flory’s plaintive and ethereal vocals singing deeply confessional lyrics over skittering and propulsive beats, cascading and chiming synths and swirling electronics to craft material that sounds as though it’s delving deep into the fractured psyche of its narrator, who seems crippled by his own insecurities and doubt; however, in the case of “White Nose,” the song also manages to express an aching and urgent vulnerability, that you hear in Flory’s vocals — with hopeful air that belies the song’s existential dread.