Fila Brazillia – Old Codes New Chaos

This album totally remains relevant to my ears today, and I just listened to it to say so!

Fila Brazillia's Old Codes New Chaos marks the start of an mighty impressive range of albums by Cobby and McSherry. There are some milestones here already, like the mellow and elegant house on "Mermaids". "Brazilification" hits the groove with a lighter touch and "The Sheriff" utilizes some fine rhodes and a nice rhythm to establish a laid-back downtempo funk track. Not everything is fully succesful however, with "Fila Funk" and "Pots & Pans" being somewhat exhausting. "The Light of Jesus" has some dull and generic vocal snippets, but the groove is solid. What makes this album really enjoyable, is that excellent samples in the interludes create a gloomy but wonderful mood, adding a great deal of depth. Among those, "Serratia Marcescens" is my absolute favourite. A starting point for some lovely chaos to come.

Terribly ordered - it sounds like a collection of singles, not a coherent album - but priceless nevertheless. Highlights are pretty much the entire album: Fila Funk shifting and turning in what eventually would become a Fila Brazillia trademark; Mermaids in its deep house groove, astounding melody, and insensible joy; The Sheriff's plucky bass and groove sounding like Kruder & Dorfmeister would a few years later. Scoundrel's review nailed it dead on in stating this is the beginning of greatness. And it is pretty well obvious before you've even finished listening to it.

My only complaint? That the original cd issue on Pork was mastered at far too low a volume.

Fila Brazillia’s debut album, <I>Old Codes, New Chaos</I>, may be a little rough around the edges, but it’s still a classic. The house tempos of “Mermaids” and “Brazilification” defy the dancefloor with their complexity. “Serratia Marcescens” -- with spoken samples of scientific studies of LSD -- is worth the price of the album alone. “The Sheriff” is downtempo goodness, while “The Light of Jesus” is 100% gospel house. “Fila Funk” goes from switches tempo, but never gives up the groove. Even though this album is only the beginning, you can tell it’s the beginning of greatness.