Purple Penguin - De-Tuned

Okay, so even though Purple Penguin's DE-TUNED came out during the great "trip-hop" boom of the mid-90s, it still sticks out in my mind. The smooth combination of dub and trip-hop, added to some sharp musical and rhythmic sensibilities, make it a stand-out. The crisp beats and moodiness of "Only" or the morphing mood of "No Action" indicate loads of talent at work here. Dadomo's mix of "Passion" loads in the strings, while "So High" will get you there quickly. But the haunting beauty of "Memphis" really catches your attention. The other stand-out here is "Mountain," with its deep bassline, bright horns, and beats that seem to lag one step behind, adding to the lazy day vibe. An oldie but a goodie!

This is a quality downtempo trip-hop style release.
The reason I post this comment is that it contains a diamond work (at least for my taste):
"Memphis". This piece of music is unbelievable. For me maybe it's the best downtempo production I have ever listened to. Its sound is hypnotic and melodic accompanied by magic female vocals..

This is like trip hop crossed with dub, in my opinion this as good as or better than all the early Ninja Tune releases, similar in style and with more eclectic samples and more grooves, less humour and more melancholy. It can be quite an eerie one, with the same kind of backing antics as Portishead - dummy. Lots of slowed jazz samples, some exceptionally well chosen B-movie samples, ethnic chants, in fact if you took Portishead dummy, subtracted the vocals, and replaced with the above, this album would be the result. Excellent moody background music, can be boring otherwise.