Search - DJ Wally, DJ Low, DJ Spooky :: End of Utopia

End of Utopia
DJ Wally, DJ Low, DJ Spooky
End of Utopia
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Pop, Rap & Hip-Hop
 
  •  Track Listings (6) - Disc #1

If trip-hop is really supposed to mean "trippy hip-hop," then nothing comes closer to the lysergic ideal than this multi-artist disc on Belgium's arty Sub Rosa label. No wailing divas, no corny keyboard stabs, no faux jazz...  more »

     

CD Details

All Artists: DJ Wally, DJ Low, DJ Spooky, DJ Grazhoppa
Title: End of Utopia
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Sub Rosa
Release Date: 8/11/1998
Genres: Dance & Electronic, Pop, Rap & Hip-Hop
Styles: Ambient, Electronica, Trip-Hop, Dance Pop
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 017533124622, 5411867111320

Synopsis

Amazon.com
If trip-hop is really supposed to mean "trippy hip-hop," then nothing comes closer to the lysergic ideal than this multi-artist disc on Belgium's arty Sub Rosa label. No wailing divas, no corny keyboard stabs, no faux jazz; Utopia simply places classic "old school" drum breaks up front and lets the timbre and color shifts of mutating sample collages do the rest. The exception is "illbient" meta-maestro DJ Spooky, who dispenses with beats in favor of sweeping shards of noise and symphonic disturbance on "Seuqugolana" and "Reciprocal Presupposition." The other tracks kick back: DJ Grazzhoppa's "Subconscious" layers a hip standup bass figure over a funky breakbeat, glittering bells, and shortwave radio frequencies. DJ Low's polyrhythmic "Rose Soup" is a cinematic frenzy of breathless huffs and filtered drum loops, morphing into Doppler-effect screeches and the distorted sound of a woman sobbing. Part of trip-hop's original urge was the "F*** dance--let's art!" battle cry. The End of Utopia doesn't need to lead the charge; it's already behind enemy lines. --James Rotondi
 

CD Reviews

Three quarters of the way to brilliance
03/31/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)

"End of Utopia is truly excellent and you can really get lost in it. To be honest, once you are plugged into it there is nowhere else to go. Unfortunately the two Spooky tracks are a real dissapointment and just don't sit well with the other tracks. DJ Wally delivers the goods as do the others, it's just a shame that Spooky's goods aren't on par with "Songs of a Dead Dreamer" or "Riddim Warfare". Still, End of Utopia is really great, end of story."