Crazy Penis - The Wicked Is Music

The Wicked Is Music, Crazy Penis’ second album, starts with the dreamy “There’s A Better Place,” which samples from film Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It’s a nifty start, though the rest of the album doesn’t always reach the same level. “You Started Something” and “Keep On,” although a perfectly decent house tracks, are both somewhat generic. “You Are We,” however, has personality to spare; it’s uplifting and full of good feeling. One of the best tracks on the album. The quality of the house on The Wicked Is Music is still high, don’t get me wrong, but perhaps they could have made the individual tracks more distinctive -- A Nice Hot Bath With… certainly had that going for it.

It's just Ok, I still believe that it's almost impossible to find a decent house ALBUM. Without "You're we" this album would be a total flop. The Michael Jackson-esque anthem is pure gold and was in fact the only track off Chicken Lips' Nite:Life Mix that I really enjoyed. "Bad Dismount" is my favorite tune here, reminds me of Metro Area releases with a bit more soul and broken beats, so it's easily mixed with both Disco No Disco stuff as well as anything that Gilles Peterson would play.

Crazy Penis (aka Jim Baron and Chris Todd) have in recent years become the hottest properties on Manchester's acclaimed and revered Paper Recordings label, and not without good reason. They caused a deep-house stir with the release of their debut album A Nice Hot Bath With.... back in 1998 and since then, having added the delicate soulful voice of Danielle Moore to their ranks, they have taken their live act around the world to glowing reviews. Their latest offering sees them back out on the road again, delighting audiences anew with their unique blend of boogie-down, disco-tinged, string-laden funky house.
No self-respecting house DJ should be without this collection of classy, melodic, groove-filled tunes in their record box for too long, as The Wicked Is Music is every bit as satisfying as its predecessor. A wonderful melee of influences makes up the whole: from 80's funky wah-wah guitar licks, to the lush sweeping strings reminiscent of Zero 7 or Morcheeba (with more substance and balls than either of those), shimmering harp and a skittering flute for a touch of 70's prog disco and even a nod to the perennially popular French house sound purveyed by the likes of Les Rhythmes Digitales.
Stand-out tracks here include "There's A Better Place" which starts with an MGM-fairytale cinematic introduction and builds into a beautifully deep dancefloor-oriented classic, replete with Prince-style vocal lines, cheeky keyboard riff and an acutely funk-filled bassline. This is precisely the music you would hanker to hear at a Big Chill featival on a sun-drenched afternoon - quite gorgeous.
Silvia Montello