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Pod
Afro Celt Sound System
Pod
Genres: Dance & Electronic, International Music, New Age, Pop, Rock
 
Most remix collections are disappointing, as new snare beats and/or bass lines do not a revelation make. However, one might expect better from the Afro Celt Sound System, as their savagely exuberant, flawlessly produced Af...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Afro Celt Sound System
Title: Pod
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: EMI Europe Generic
Release Date: 7/12/2004
Album Type: Import
Genres: Dance & Electronic, International Music, New Age, Pop, Rock
Styles: Electronica, Europe, Britain & Ireland
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPCs: 724359677309, 724359752600, 0724359677309, 724359677354, 724359677309

Synopsis

Amazon.com
Most remix collections are disappointing, as new snare beats and/or bass lines do not a revelation make. However, one might expect better from the Afro Celt Sound System, as their savagely exuberant, flawlessly produced African/Celtic/Eastern collisions in club-land have re-defined both world and dance music for all time. On Pod, the band has not only assembled a series of eminently collectible remixes but added fresh instrumentals to certain tracks, giving recent band members a workout while linking the band's various incarnations. Highlights include the ethereal "Johnny At Sea," which was previously available only as a byte on the band¹s website, and Toshiro Matsuura's "Fantasisita Re-Formation" remix of "Full Moon Low Tide," on which remote, forlorn-sounding bagpipes are enveloped in organically primal yet frigidly machine-like barrages of beats. The 2-disc package includes a DVD containing a pair of videos, plus strenuously edited highlights from the group's epochal 2001 performance at WOMAD USA. --Christina Roden

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CD Reviews

Much better than you expect...
nicjaytee | London | 07/23/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're put off by the idea of an album composed entirely of remixes of tracks that, in their own right, are more than good enough then think again... because this is really quite different. Conceived as an integrated whole, the Afro Celts take some of their best tracks and along with their guest producers come up with something that's closer to a superb live album than a series of "interesting" studio reworkings. Opening with a brilliantly ecstatic and very different version of "Rise Above" its trick is to sequence these harder, more club & afro beat dominated remixes pretty seamlessly into what becomes not only a genuinely exciting & cohesive record, but one that, if you know nothing about the Afro Celts, you'll be absolutely knocked out by.



The problem of course is that most people considering buying "POD" will already have many of its tracks and, as a result, comparisons become inevitable. But even on this pretty unfair basis it delivers some asbsolutely "must have" gems including, in addition to its quite stunning opener, versions of "Further in Time", "When You're Falling", "Persistence of Memory" & "Whirly 3", that are arguably better than the originals, two excellent "club" remixes of "Release", and the previously unavailable and ridiculously good "Johnny at Sea". Plus... you get a DVD which includes two ingenious and unforgettable music videos of "Persistence of Memory" & "When You're Falling", an excellent Dolby 5.1 remix of "North" with cleverly sequenced graphics, and a compilation of the group's WOMAD USA 2001 concert that really does capture how amazing they were when playing these tracks live.



Good enough then, from either perspective, to justify some of your hard-earned cash and much, much better than you may expect because it is, quite simply, this excellent group's best album to date. And that's saying something.

"