A Sonic Marathon!
Ian Creamer | Dublin,Ireland | 12/18/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This English duo have produced quite a vast album here,with many musical influences that makes this album very difficult to categorize.Unlike other duos like Groove Armada,Zero 7 and Kinobe they seem to work quite differently in that they rarely write any of the tracks together.There are some simlilarities to those groups I've just mentioned-but the main difference would be that this c.d. is far less dance oriented and veers more to a type of classical meets acid jazz.You can also add a fair dose of soul which comes via some of their marvellous guest vocalists. The album opens with a very ambient,chilled out track which seems to mix jazzy sounds to Indian sounds courtesy of the fact that they use tambura,tabla and Indian harp,which are amazingly well played by session players.The strings are delicate and quite understated and it's a very gentle opener.The mood remains pretty much chilled out for the second track-drum and bass beats,more wondrous strings and a soulful dialogue from Ursula Rucker.Many of the tracks on this c.d. are pretty long and track 3 comes in at nearly 7 minutes.The funky build up is very gradual and it soon paves the way for an even funkier dance track with Shirley Bassey like vocals.The synths are quite similar to a Jamiroquai sound."Twothesme" builds up very slowly like many of the tracks here.It's another instrumental track which has funky synths again being backed this time by very heavy 'phat' beats.Then after a while a really amazing brass section enters and this song really takes off and goes down a crazy meandering road of it's own and you're never quite sure where this track is going to end up.It's high quality stuff,but it's totally riveting.It's laidback but what appears like a contradiction the music keeps you on the edge of your seat.Jill Scott makes a truly special appearance on track 5.It's a really catchy soulful,jazzy number with her velvet voice assisted by a full compliment of strings and brass.A great track! The next section of the c.d. opens with the track "Hold It Down".This track is really interesting again with a slightly salsa rhythm and lead vocals from Lady Alma,in a track that wouldn't sound out of place on a Groove Armada c.d."Unique" is one of the few tracks where guitars have a key role to play-even though this guitar sound is heavily disguised.Strong wah-wah guitars meet latin acoustic in a verse that's all acid jazz and then a chorus that explodes all latino energy.Latino rhythms continue in the next track which is pretty short and quite commercial.This song plays a greater importance on acousitc rhythms and instruments.The next track "Ways Of Thought" is another album highlight.Furious beats-almost latino meet drum and bass,more strings,moog synths and silky voclas from Face.All the tracks in this section 6-9 use female vocalists.
The sound changes considerably for the next instrumental track-techno drum machines;effects you'd expect from Aphex Twin.Despite some interjections from other instruments it all seems very disjointed and it's a very "difficult" track.Skipping on to track 12 which is a fascinating track which blends African rhythms to Japanese instruments.All this is as a backdrop to more spoken word from Mark Murphy-who talks about a 'New Age'.The track is most memorable for it's African sound which is pulsating.The next track has a title that makes no sense-"2-BS-74638"-but it's very different to the others in that there aren't quite as many layers of sound on this one-it's just drums and keyboards.Then we head to the albums finale and one of the highlights-"Les Fleur".This track is instantly recognisable to me but I have no idea from where-even though I read on this website that it's a reworking of a Minnie Riperton classic.To be honest it sounds like the finale to a major show or musical.It's very catchy,has jazz influence and seems to break off into many sections-which explains why so many people are credited with playing on this track.It's one of the years most astounding tracks and this track alone is really worth checking out.The final track is simply breathtaking in it's beauty.Terry Callier sings and plays lead guitar.It's so completely different again from what's been heard previously.It starts off sounding quite new acoustic movement and then proceeds to be driven along again by wonderful orchestration and I have to mention the bass which is superb on this track and on the album as a whole.
It will take quite a while and a good few listening hours to get used to this c.d.I've had it for a while now and I'm still noticing new sections and elements to the album.Worth investigating!"
Track Listings (16) - Disc #1