Roni Size / Reprazent - New Forms

Far too long, but it deserves classic status for getting so much milage out of the "classic" breaks we all know. And not an Amen in sight, as far as I can tell. Worth it alone for the transition from the last verse of "Railing" into "Brown Paper Bag", but could have benefited from having the full vocal mix of BPB instead of the boring 9-minute instrumental version.

I picked up New Forms knowing nothing, just on the strength a track in a certain movie soundtrack but not in said movie.

I keep taking it off the shelf and listening to it and have enjoyed it in a variety of situations. It's got a feel for space - sure it's atmospheric but also notes get launched, have hang time and then come back down with impact. Where it's relentless it isn't monotonous. And it ends with no fuss. We listeners are in the fuss business; this thing just does what it does.

In 1997 roni size/ reprazent won the most prestigious music award england offers, the mercury prize. Goldie, on the other hand, has never been nominated.

Don't get me wrong, i like timeless, but it's a darker, less accessible form of drum and bass. The clean, light, jazz feel that Reprazent created on this album has to this day, yet to be imitated, even by the Reprazent crew themselves.

Roni Size / Reprazent - New Forms is a well recognized, classic electronic album. one of the best ever created. It's hard enough to make a cohesive album, especially an electronic, or drum and bass album, genres that are geared to singles, but not only does Reprazent provide a satisfying album experience with new forms, they do it through two discs, truly an accomplishment, by a crew at the top of their game.

Great D&B album.
Double CD, nice vibes, ill vocals, and recorded instrumentals.
You can find a variety of influencing styles behind these d&b breakbeats. The main one is jazz as most of the track have strong bassline guitars. There is also presence of funk and hip-hop. On the other hand some tracks appear more electronic, ambient or even experimental.
An album definitely ahead of its time.

Back before listening stations were the norm, we had to buy things based on the recommendations of others. Buoyed by Goldie's "Timeless" double disc, I thought drum and bass was the future and could do no wrong. (Don't listen to that hipster record store clerk: he doesn't necessarily share your taste.) What a mistake this purchase was. Whereas "Timeless" was a lush synthesis of jazz and techno that took electronic music in a new direction, this disc seemed to be harbinger of drum and bass to come: lame rapping, simplistic tech-step beats, and the overall feeling that this was just a bunch of mediocre singles thrown together instead of a cogent album. The only track I really enjoyed was "Digital", but even that one ain't no "Sea of Tears."

Too bad. I bought this back when I had a lot less disposable income. It was downright painful to take it back to the record store the very next week and get about 1/10 of the price I'd paid for it as a trade-in. I'm wondering, how well has this aged to those who were wowed by it when it came out?

There are 3 very cool songs here. Watching windows, Heroes, and Down, are the hippest, in that order. I absolutely love the reverb or echo on Watching windows. Share the fall is okay, but it sounds very outdated, which it probably was intended to sound that way. I still don't like it that much.

This IS one of those DnB albums you need to listen to, but it's not what you'd expect. The album is highly minamilistic, for one. Also, apart from one or two songs, the album is relatively forgetable. It's still a must-hear, but just don't get your expectations too high.

The 5x12" set (536 497-1) was also released by Mercury (UK), in addition to their main 4x12" release of New Forms (534 933-1). The packaging and design is almost identical - the only difference that the 5x12" set came in a plastic outer sleeve, while the 4x12" set came in a card outer sleeve. The two are so similar that my version of the second LP in the 5x12" set had been incorrectly packaged in the same sleeve as the second LP from the 4x12" set: Of course the two feature the same track (Share The Fall) - but different versions of it.

Excellent cd at the time allowing more people to be introduced to drum and bass, but for those already a fan, there's not a great deal of innovation on offer here. For pure listening pleasure though, this cd will impress.

Not quite as awe inspiring as many make out, but still a top quality album that has matured well. (Can't say that about a lot of Drum and Bass, can you?)

A good overview of the softer, more musical side of Roni and the rest of the Reprazent/Full Cycle crew: Suv, Die, Krust and to a lesser extent, Dynamite MC, who only actually features on one track here, but is a mainstay of their live shows, and the single mix of 'Brown Paper Bag'.

For a further look at the harder, more dancefloor orientated edge of what they do, check out last years, 'Live at Level' CD: True Bristol style sonic terrorism.