Rabbit In The Moon have established an enormous fan base with the release of their 12-inch singles, remix work, and exploration in live performance. With their world renowned remixes for Smashing Pumpkins, Depeche Mode,... more » Sarah McLachlan, Garbage, and countless others, it's no wonder they have the world eagerly awaiting the release of their first full-length CD/DVD. Their style of electronic music is timeless, but to truly understand this group is to see and hear them live. This 80+ minute DVD takes you behind the scenes and in front of thousands of screaming fans at one of their live festival performances, shot in Hi-Def with a 5.1 Surround Sound mix.« less
Rabbit In The Moon have established an enormous fan base with the release of their 12-inch singles, remix work, and exploration in live performance. With their world renowned remixes for Smashing Pumpkins, Depeche Mode, Sarah McLachlan, Garbage, and countless others, it's no wonder they have the world eagerly awaiting the release of their first full-length CD/DVD. Their style of electronic music is timeless, but to truly understand this group is to see and hear them live. This 80+ minute DVD takes you behind the scenes and in front of thousands of screaming fans at one of their live festival performances, shot in Hi-Def with a 5.1 Surround Sound mix.
"As a DJ, I have had access to Rabbit in the Moon material over the past 10 years, as it was released single-by-single. Like many of their fans, I was hooked on Dave Christophere's audio wizardry with the haunting and evolving O.O.B.E. - (mistakenly labeled "Outer" Body Experience on the liner notes - though not a surprising tactic for a new remix.). Several of the track on this new album have been previously released as singles, and/or have been included in their live performances. Though some may find this a bit anticlimactic, it should be noted that everything has been remastered to a degree that it actually does seem new and fresh.
As others have noted, RITM is best experienced as a live act. The music is brought to life through the larger-than-life, kabuki theater-like performance and vocalizations of Bunny (Steve Eachon). Perhaps RITM are destined to become the Grateful Dead of modern Techno, as every show is different, and devoted fans follow their shows, and see them again and again, noting the slight changes to the mixes and song selections, and the ever evolving and exciting Bunny Experience.
With that in mind, it is only natural that they would include a DVD that included some of their live material, along with new and creative original video along with the CD.
The quality of the video and audio on this package is flawless and very entertaining for old and new Rabbit fans. One can only hope that they gather momentum from this release to tour heavily, and release another album of completely new material within the next 18 months. The newer material also has more vocals by Bunny, which I find to be an excellent trend which they should continue to develop in their music and live shows.
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A great release from a the legendary RITM!
Bryan Carter | Ft. Lauderdale, FL | 07/12/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I think this is a *fanstatic* release, mostly because of the DVD content, but I like the CD a lot as well. Being the fan that I am, I couldn't give this any less than 5 stars for that DVD content being what it is. Yes, there is some dated stuff on the album, but it is called "Decade", and the song "Deeper" alone justifies that title. I see some of the other reviewers who are fans, but giving it low-star reviews, that's really too bad. It may be because they were expecting a full new CD of all new material, and didn't get that. Still, I see that those of us who "know the deal", so to speak, know that the essence of Rabbit In The Moon is the live show, I think the DVD content gives a pretty close approximation to what it's actually like to see them live. But tell me, who, of the RITM fans among us, especially those who have seen them live in the least year, didn't FLIP out when they were listening to the "Decade" CD and heard the phrase "Look into the eye!" for the first time, on track 8.. with memories flooding in of Bunny with his TV-on-a-stick?? I know I did. And that song is followed by the AMAZING rendition of David Bowie's "Let's Dance", followed by Deeper (which is admittedly old
but is a classic and couldn't be excluded) but then there's a brand new mix of O.B.E. that, correct me if I'm wrong, has never been released before. (And I own the original Phases O.B.E. 12" record). I love the new mix of that song, and I think it's a great album, even though every single song doesn't thrill me. But even with this CD, some of the older RITM songs that I never really liked much before, like Dubbasex for example, listened carefully and given them another chance, and found they are actually very subtle and beautiful songs.
There is more newer material on the album than some reviewers let on, in fact well over half of it is new. There are a few ommissions, IMO, for example I would have liked to see "Electro Accupuncture" on this CD, but then again that has been released before on a CD, still I think it would have fit in well here though as well. I love the DVD the most, because it reminds me why I've been such a huge fan for so many years, with probably about 7 shows under my belt. To all the fans out there, buy this album! Show your support! Remember the old Zen Festial 96-97 shows, with Bunny, in his disco-ball suit, being lowered by a cable from the ceiling! remember how you felt at those times. They have earned our suport! To those folks new to the electronica genre, this is a good glimpse into understanding the engima that is Rabbit in the Moon... RITM so much more than can possible be described in one album, album review, DVD, magazine article, or antyhing else. There's a whole history and culture behind these guys'one-of-a-kind stlye of performance art, and I think this release captures the essence of it almost as best you could with the amount of material provided. Buy it for the DVD, but then take the audio CD, put in in your car stereo, put on track 8, and crank it up!"
Disappointed
thinner | 08/08/2007
(2 out of 5 stars)
"this review concerns the dvd. i bought this for the dvd hoping that i would get a live RITM performance. unfortunately, there are only a few songs performed live. the rest are more like music videos shot inside a dark room with some lights. these videos are not performed live but instead just go along with the studio mix of the song. bleh. most everything that is so great about RITM is the experience of seeing them live with thousands of screaming fans. the few tracks that are actually done this way, are outstanding. i would love to know why their entire performance was not captured. check out the ULTRA music fest 2004 dvd and get most of the live material that is on this RITM release, and in addition you will get many other performance from the top djs in the scene."
RECYCLED DECADE
Jesse | FLORIDA!!! | 07/11/2007
(1 out of 5 stars)
"I hate this because I am a great fan . . . but I have to admit that these guys haven't really done much lately.
Their shows are AMAZING! The stuff of legend, but they seem to have not had much commitment to new
studio projects asides from the occasional remix. This is all stuff that has been recycled from the past decade.
It really is a shame because the talent is there, I wish I didn't have to say this, but, I call as I see it."
15 years later, they deliver... but no surprises
R. Harlow | DC | 07/11/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I've been listening to Rabbit in the Moon for 13 years... heck, the first time I ever rolled was at a RITM show in 1994. I love these guys. Now, this album is solid, but not ground-breaking. It's not really phoned in, but then it's not really innovative either. That's partially because these are almost all old tracks. I think there's actually only one track on the entire album that wasn't previously released. Some of these date back, literally, a decade. In fact, "Out of Body Experience" was released in '93, so they could have called it "Decade and a Half". Anyways, the new track is pretty cool, a cover of David Bowie's "Let's Dance". For longtime fans though, it's really about the DVD. The footage is great, including some from a protest rally at the WTO in the Czech Republic. So even though the album doesn't have much new to offer old fans, it's still worth picking up. For interested newbies, it's a must-buy. It's put together very well, with appropriate mixes of each track chosen. It nearly brought a tear to my eye finally hearing all these tracks in album format. I think that alot of "long-time" fans will be highly disappointed because they've never heard these tracks sitting at home, sober. Yes, obviously, ANYTHING will sound better when you're high, on a gigantic soundsystem. Go pick up some decent headphones, find some good visuals, and let RITM carry you away into your own out of body experience."