maxheaddrone | Charlotte, N.C. United States | 02/25/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"O.K., its not as forceful or gritty as his '5th Exotic' album, but '..Morning' still makes for a great soundtrack to anyone's everyday life patterns. It ranges from intense horn-section/bass driven breaks, to upbeat jazz guitar/swingy woodwinds/2 mellow soul tracks w/female vocals, and one hiphop track w/ the Aspects.
Now, no vocalists were featured on his first effort,which is sometimes considered a weakness. I think for Holland's Quantic project its the other way around, as the vocalists seem to limit his freedom to create variations in the actual patterns of each song.
Hence the instrumental tracks stand out in my opinion. 'Trouble From The River' is the strongest, a true climax to the album, and an inspirational groove indeed. The other tighties are probably 'Not So Blue', 'Wider Than the Sky', 'Transatlantic' and the title track. Holland is one of my favorite solo musicians and I'd put him in the ranks of Amon Tobin, Fila Brazillia, Food/Coldcut and Mr.Scruff.
The Tru-Thoughts record label is responsible for some of the smoothest, genre-blending jazz/funk/soul/hop available to man right now and in the closer future (from Bonobo, Quantic and Steady to a maadddfattt compilation by Mr.Scruff entitled 'Heavy-Weight Rib Ticklers'.) And that's just their opening line up. I'm on the watch for the Quantic Soul Orchestra release, too.
Keep yer eyes pon dis man, fe serious!!"
Definitely a more intelligent album...
J. Lomax | Westchester, NY United States | 06/08/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Yoooooo I just got Quantic's Apricot Morning album from Amazon....
He has definitely gotten A LOT better since The 5th Exotic...
This album is amazing!!!Haven't even listened to in in full, and already, it beats out so many albums in his genre. Bonobo only has Quantic by his difference in years of musical experience. But Bonobo has some competition...luckily they do production work and remixes for each other.I love DJs who produce their own tracks.Quantic, Bonobo, DJ Tiesto, Alex Gold, Jimmy Van M, Sasha, John Digweed and so many others...I better get used to seeing the funny artwork on my desk. This cd ain't goin' nowhere for a while...Pe#ce..."