Search - The Angel :: No Gravity

Driving at Night, deserted streets, two Quesadillas to go

TUCO H. | Los Angeles, CA | 07/05/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"...The fusion of ambient and hip-hop in intellectual hands usually ends up heavy on the eno-aphextwinish-ambient side, and short on the hip-hop (The Orb). Not here; Angel has put together a near-perfect, danceable yet militantly anti-techno fusion of semi-ambient intellectual meditations, reggae dubs, and naturalistic hip-hop sounds and attitudes. Everything on "No Gravity" is just right, the sounds are all at the right level, nothing too loud, nothing too soft, always super-hip, and without a single riff that even approaches the awful drone-land of techno music. There are no weak tracks, it's pretty much a matter of taste which particular tunes any individual will groove to more; my own two favorites are "No Gravity" and "Other side of Midnight" (they are very incredible sounding and spooky when driving really late at night through deserted streets). Most of the tracks are instrumental and the tunes with lyrics are quite poetic, dealing with intelligent ways of 'maintaining' in a world where to sacrifice a creatively fertile life on whatever level is really to allow your soul to slowly die. Any attitude displayed is thoughtful 'attitude,' not the kind of juvenile 'attitude at all costs' that million selling 'gangsta rap' records specialize in. Philosophy, attention to detail and an instinct for the right balance of things is what separates the true artist from the mediocrities, and the amount of finesse and philosophy that went into these deceptively simple sounding tracks is very inspiring. Now if only other artists would do the same, maybe the next decade will see popular music that's at least half as good in quality as what came out of the bizarre but endlessly creative '70s."

Great tracks....

TUCO H. | 05/15/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's a vibey, jazz, trip-hop ride, that is just plain addictive. A beautifully sewn collage of samples, blends,beats and strong vocals. Some of my favorite tracks(and it's hard to pick!)are "Baltimore", "Make It Betta" and "Destiny Complete". I'm usually an electronica fan...but The Angel (I read about her in the LA Weekly)has won me over by smoothly crossing many diverse genres that just keep me inspired to keep coming back to this disc-a must have! Also, if this disc is a sign of the future Angel...sign me up, I want more!"

My kinda vibe

TUCO H. | 05/14/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Been checkin' for The Angel since I saw that movie "Boiler Room" cause she did some dope music for that. Just came across this album and to my surprise found Divine Styler and Slim Kid Tre on there too! Deep, dark and moody with some fat beats. And my girl Mystic on "Baltimore" - you just gotta lay back and chill to this one. The Angel is on some flavorful tip, a whole different vibe."