Early trance/instrumental from The Shamen
Niven | Indiana, US | 10/15/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If I remember correctly, Hempton Manor came out some time in the latter half of 1996. I was already a big fan of their music based on En-tact and Boss Drum, both of which were awesome discs with danceable stuff and some trippy things as well. But I was really disappointed to find out that Hempton Manor wouldn't be released in the U.S. I was fortunate enough to travel to Japan around Christmas of '96, though, and while there I managed to find an outrageously expensive (by U.S. standards, but not for Japan) copy of it in a record store. So this disc will always remind me of my time in Japan, no matter how many times I listen to it.
What can I say about Hempton Manor? Well, for starters, it's an entirely instrumental album, which might turn off potential buyers who were looking for catchy, pop-like, Shamen tunes in the vein of "Move Any Mountain" or "Boss Drum". On the other hand, this disc marked not only the band's departure from the mainstream, but was a indication of things-to-come in the field of techno/house/dance music, of which trance was a hitherto unknown genre. They were not the first, as bands like Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, and Holographic had already been doing stuff that was both instrumental and danceable in nature in the 70's, 80's and 90's respectively. But the Shamen on this disc were certainly indicative of what would become a trend in club music, in what would become popular in film and commercials, and also what the casual traveller or commuter might listen to on the train or in their car.
Contrast this with what people like Darude or Paul Oakenfold is doing today, and you can see the progression in the genre. Hempton Manor is (probably unfairly) best remembered for references to marijuana and for having a liner printed on hemp-based paper, but somewhere in all that is a truly monumental work of music that helped to mark the path that instrumentals were taking in the late 90's. I'd definitely recommend this for anyone who is a fan of trance or electronic instrumental music."
