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London Elektricity - Pull The Plug - 08-Dec-04 06:30 PM
To my knowledge, this is an album which stands quite unparallelled in the realm of jazzy/funky drumnbass. Far too much "jazzy dnb" verges towards a few lazily looped lounge chords on a fender rhodes. This album represents the absolute antithesis.

Its scope and ambition in terms of songwriting and live instrumentation is light years beyonds the norm for the genre. The stunning first track, "song in the key of knife", sets out their stall: it seems almost fully orchestral with brass stabs, whirling flute, strings, live bass and more. Most critically, none of these instruments appear as some basic repeated sample: rather, we have a brilliant crafted and scored piece of music, which almost feels short despite a length of 11:26.

Second track PBE follows up in the same brilliant vein. The outrageous basslines and stupendously tight wah guitar leave other funk pretenders weeping. Other highlights include "rewind", a gorgeous and wonderful vocal-led track featuring jazz singer Liane Carrol, which cranks up from an intimate, acoustic half-time vibe.

This is the sort of stuff people whove never heard of drumnbass will find beautiful - but the drumnbass elements are top-flight as well. The breaks are all sorts of tight, heavy, rolling and funky throughout... and weve already established how astonishingly good the basslines are. Other tracks are a little more dancefloor-orientated, stripping the funk down to the raw rhythm section.

Above all, it is that raw, raunchy edge which makes this album so special. Where others ape the polished, overproduced groove of disco, this album doesnt lose sight of the spirit of true funk: dirty, sweaty and unapologetically primal.

Hybrid - Wider Angle - Special Edition - 02-Aug-04 01:05 AM
Just possibly the finest dance music album ever? A bold claim, but I know several people who say that about this release, and, on some days at least, I agree with them.

I have to say that on paper it sounds like something to avoid at all costs: the combination of female vocals, trance and an orchestra sounds like a cheese-ridden cliche-fest. This would be understandable for those unfamiliar with Hybrid. Purveyors of some of the sickest, slickest nu skool breaks drumtracks ever seen, holding equally mastery of the bassline, capable of mixdowns as clean and fat as Teebee and programming/edits as jaw-dropping as BT and Tsunami One- theres plenty here for those who would normally avoid trance at all costs.

But thats beside the point, because the vocals, trance and orchestra are 200% pulled off - at the end of the day, both production and songwriting are flawless, and the result is a genuinely powerful album. Its just beautiful and cant be recommended strongly enough to anyone into, well, just about anything.

In my opinion, its definitely worth picking up this special edition double cd version. The live set on CD2 sees the tracks reworked for astoundingly high-energy dancefloor mayhem, emphasising the pumping 4/4 side of things. The bonus tracks, meanwhile, are top-rate, showcasing Hybrids skill with the mean and nasty 12" - "Kill City" is one of my favourite bassline tearouts of all time.

Ozric Tentacles - Waterfall Cities - 11-Jul-04 02:50 PM
"Favourite album ever" is a mantle Im simply incapable of awarding, but I do know this release is a permanent contender for the spot.

But this is not an album I recommend casually. Why? Well, for starters the Ozrics are a heavily acquired taste anyway: most people are put off by either the Joe Satriani-esque guitar masturbation, or the general air of extreme crustiness. But I was already a confirmed Ozrics fan when I bought this CD, and I hated it for several months! It took over a year to rise to "masterpiece" status in my esteem.

This is because the album is extremely difficult. The opening groove of "coily" is almost impossible to understand, and this sets the tone: the album whirls effortlessly through myriad obscure time-signatures, shifting keys, modes, moods, tempos with breaktaking speed and ease. The complexity draws parallel with the likes of Mahavishnu Orchestra- this is advanced, challenging music, a million aways from "easy listening".

The beauty, though, is that over dozens upon dozens of listens, challenging turns to rewarding. Like climbing a mountain, the difficulty of the journey increases the satisfaction in reaching the top. Along the way, the album never stops delivering astonishing details, twists, tricks and surprises. It is perhaps a "by musicians for musicians" thing - those interested in technically astounding musicianship and next-level sophistication in songwriting and arrangement will find plenty to admire here. Standout track is "Spiralmind", a veritable mini-symphony, a comparison drawn not merely due to its 11 minute plus length.

As a bonus, the production is utterly outstanding- a million miles from the early demo-feel cassettes, all the instruments are recorded crisply, the beats are sharp and fat, the fx and atmospherics are spacious and immersive, and the synths and arpeggios completely deliver the "waterfalls" of the title, in stunning fashion.

So - strongly recommended, yes. But if youre totally new to the Ozrics, I personally suspect this might be a difficult introduction. I think coming to this album chronologically, having previously heard their slightly simpler, more groove-orientated works like "Strangeitude", sets the listener up to fully engage with this unapologetically complicated album on its own terms.

Tipper - Holding Pattern - 10-Jul-04 09:05 PM
I thought I would comment as my opinion of this album, and Tippers previous, is an interesting counterpoint to behemoths view. Where it matters, I agree with him entirely: both albums are brilliant, and Tipper is a genius for making either one of them, but especially for making both.

On the other hand, I slightly prefer this one. I heard it before I heard The Critical Path, hence with no expectations, and was simply blown away. My reaction was almost the opposite - this was much less dancefloor-orientated than I expected, as my previous exposure to Tipper was from his monstrous remixes, like "Dusted". Compared to that, this album greatly surprised me with its cheeky, playful attitude, experimental/idm influences and overall subtley. You arent assaulted by hellish basslines - yes, its bass heavy in true Fuel style, but these arent overbearing howls, just solid funky subs... More like electro than nu breaks. It reminds me in production terms of teebees "blacksciencelabs" - total precision, resulting in a very clean, very sparse record, yet still packing that vital bite and weight in the beats and basslines in bucketfuls.

On this record, Tippers immense production skill merges completely with his songwriting. The tracks are minimal, setting up simple but devastatingly effective grooves, and that fat production ensures these would work on the floor. But subtle arrangement details, sleight-of-hand programming flourishes and idm-style edits keep things interesting when relaxing to this CD in the bedroom, and keep providing new surprises after many, many listens.

The impression that I get is one of a man sitting comfortably at the top of his form: confident, clever, witty, he can program anything he wants to, and hes having all sorts of fun doing so. This shines so clearly from the album that its impossible to listen without grinning.

Get this.

Ott - Blumenkraft - 10-Jul-04 04:20 AM
I loved Otts contributions to the Backroom Beats compilations, and when I learnt he did production and editing on shpongles astonishing masterpiece "tales of the inexpressible", I was very excited at the prospect of a solo album.

On first listen, I was impressed. The production is basically flawless, for starters. Musically? It wasnt a rerun of the Shpongle release - I immediately got a good sense of a distinctly Ottish vision running throughout the album which is something I always look for in LPs. Nevertheless it shared the lightening tour through global influences, incorporating things which by all rights should be laughable and stupid but somehow work brilliantly.

I established that tracks 1, 3 and 9 - especially 9, perhaps my favourite track of 2003 in any genre - are absolutely magnificent, but felt the rest of the album was... hmm... I wouldnt be so harsh as to say "filler", but it seemed to be covering similar territory to those highlights, without quite the same spark of genius.

Hearing the album on shrooms soon corrected that view, though, revealing the entire album as an intricate, interesting, groovy and quirky tour of discovery and magic. Strongly recommended.

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