Search - Dining Rooms :: Experiments in Ambient Soul

Groovy, Trippy and Sexy. A Five Star Catch!

L. F. V. Guimaraes | 09/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"this mature album shows the group can mix well produced ambient tracks with the finest soul flavor I've seen in a while. Music to be heard tripping or loving, the latest dinning rooms album shows us that there's plenty of "out of pattern" groovy ambient loops being made out there. fine stuff."

Awesome Dining Rooms experience.

Jason B. Smith | Atlanta GA | 09/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a new and smooth sound not found in the states. It is very classy and original sounding. No techno, no computer looped crap. A very soothing beat to relax to. The French and Italian lyrics bring it all together. It is an awesome addition to any chill out house, lounge, or jazz coinsure/collector."

Solid

bordersj2 | Boston | 02/03/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The Dining Rooms are Stefano Ghittoni and Cesare malfatti. They're based out of Italy on the Schema label but have also released work on Edizioni Ishtar's "Milano" label as well. So they're label mates with the likes of Gerardo Frisina, Soulstance, Vuca, Rosalia De Souza, Marco Bianchi/Paolo Fedreghini, The Five Corners Quintet and of course, Nicola Conte. They've also been around and contributed to quite a few projects, from various Schema jazz sets and releases to Noorda and then to other remixes.



This release didn't grab me. Granted the concept is for experimentation with more of a soul vibe to it. And to be honest, that concept of soul and funk seemed to be the theme for 2005 in general. The cd starts out with "No Problem", one of the stronger tuens on the album - and it's the one with the vocals before going into "Diamonds & Comforts", a cut that just didn't grab me. Down the line on this you've got "Destination Moon", one of the IMO stronger tunes on the album with good keywork/horns and a nice vibe to it. "Within" is a track that will remind you of a Jazzanova/Ursula Rucker collaboration - not bad, but pretty par for the course on the album. But "Forever's Not" picked it up - easily one of my favorite cuts on the album. "Thin Ice" was a good moody track too. But for a good amount of the cuts, the ambiance felt more forced. Some songs, like "The World She Made" in particular, was taken apart by too many... maybe not lyrics, but just words... the style that dominated so many of the songs - just spoken words.



I'm probably a bit jaded since I was such a fan of "Subterranean Modern" and I absolutely loved "Numero Deux", so I can understand what the first reviewer was saying and the last - if you loved that album (Numero Deux), you may be totally shocked with this one. There was something about their second album that was much bolder, much more raw yet that much more eye-opening... like "Chorus of Flames" or how about "Invocation" & "Catania City Blues" - it actually did capture an ambience to it, albeit a dark one. But this one, and their last one, "Tre", don't really measure up to that one IMO. The sound has evolved and they're going into different realms of sound, which is probably a good thing. This was far from being a bad album, it's just that I've had it for quite a while and just couldn't get into it. But... I did like Versioni Particolari AND there will be a second Versioni Particolari out late this winter/spring."