Carl Craig - More Songs About Food And Revolutionary Art

When I first heard Televised Green Smoke in '96, '97...I knew I was deprived of something that was lost a long time ago...at this time, for many reasons Detroit techno/electronica was something that was overshadowed by all the hype from the current growing trends of electronic music ...unfortunetly still to this day, many Americans themselves are uneducated about the history and future of the Detroit culture, and how important it is.

In my opinion, I think this album was one of the few major releases that marked the begining of the Detroit Techno revival...although there is hardly any actual blatant "techno" on here, the album still carries the essense of it through the production...this sound was still
new to a lot of people...this was an album that needed to be made.

There's a darkness and sadness that swirls through tracks like "Frustration", "Goodbye World", "Red Lights"...probably among the most visual and emotional tracks I have heard to date...there are also lighter moments to balance it all out: "Dominias", "Dreamland", and "Televised Green Smoke"...the album as a whole made a very important statement at the time...listen all the way towards the hidden track to get the entire picture.

This is the kind of album you could listen to 100 years from now and it would still sound current. As much as Derrick May and Juan Atkins set out to produce music of the future, Carl Craig nailed it on this album, a truly remarkable & timeless album which I will love until the end. Sweet, bitter and seductive, At Les could make you cry a tear and smile at the same time. Beautiful.

Carl Craig's music has a very bluesy feel to it. It shows mechanical coldness whilst maintaining soul and humanity within. At first, one will experience an ickyness to the material which comes from the sound of the synthesizers, but televised green smoke will entrap the heart. The last few songs and some of the strange fillers will disappoint many, but the main tracks are sheer beauty. Dreamland, Butterflies, At les, AND Dominas are similar, interconnectable, and subtly, astonishingly, adorable. Lyrics in those songs would have been better than an acapella at the end.

This is the best album of arguably the most talanted producer in electronic music. Its the kind of album you would play to anyone who has preconceptions that machine music lacks the soul or emotional depth of acoustic music. For me this is an album that rates with the best releases on Motown. Hopefully one day it will be rediscovered and given the plaudits that it richly deserves. Listen to 'Domina' and 'At Les' are drift into another world...

This, in my opinion, is the greatest record to come out of Detroit. 6 years on, it still sounds so fresh and original. Carl Craig is probably my favourite artist, I wish he would make more music like this, pure electronic soul.

Also, for the braver DJ's out there, try playing out 'Televised Green Smoke' - goes down a storm to the right crowd.

Timeless, lovely and revolutionary. The reason for many of us waking up and realizing that we could make music ourselves, by our own standards and using technology in a soulful manner. Still one of my favorites.