Following on from James Lavelle's acclaimed mix album,
Fabric release a mix from one of their lesser known residents.
This is a straight-up breaks compilation with bite. Quality
names like Bassbin Twins, Lee Combs, Plump DJ's (whose press
was once handled by Ali), Ils and Mr Scruff all mash up together
nicely. It's not a nose bleed hardcore breaks mix but actually
quite a soulful party mix with plenty of funk in the breaks.
It's all put together with panache and progresses just the
way a full-on mix should do. With plenty of rarities and old
classics alongside the finest current sounds, this is a breaks
mix for everyone.
 After two
hit and miss albums, it looks as though Norman Cook has
finally delivered the paydirt. His sound has definitely
matured and embraced a deeper, more soulful sound. The
major difference here is that, for the first time, he"s
worked with vocalists. A Jim Morrison poetry recording
is used to make "Sunset (Bird
of Prey)" the ultimate hippy breakbeat an them and a chart hit to boot.
Elsewhere, Ashley Slater (from Norman"s old funk band Freak Power, unless
I"m mistaken) and Roland Clark pop up for some serious 4am club vocals.
However, the big cheese is undoubtedly Macy Gray. Madge Simpson"s funky
Auntie pops up on two tracks, the unbelievably sexual "Love Life" which
could probably make even Pauline from Eastenders shake her butt, and
the beautiful, moving "Demons". There"s still plenty of power in the
boy, as "Star69", "Ya
Mama" and "Retox" prove, it"s just that this album shows that there"s
much more to him and ends as wonderfully as it begins, "Talking Bout
My Baby" and "Song
For Shelter" make the perfect bookends for an important album that deserves
it"s inevitable success. Fatboy Slim is now indeed ****ing in heaven,
so will you when you hear this!
 Peter
Parker & Sneaky are a deadly duo comprising of a DJ and
a bass-player. Fingathing were born from their jam sessions
together when they were in Rae & Christian's band.
After 2 brilliant albums, though, you had to ask yourself
where they could go next with their music? the answer is:
much, much further.
Fingathing have gone into deepest space both for the concept
and for inspiration. With sci-fi themed artwork and song titles,
the boys also bring into the mix influences as diverse as
Can and Led Zeppelin. When you brink sounds like that to their
hip-hop/funk sound, you know you're heading for some
wild times.
Fingathing are getting increasingly cinematic. They've
broadened not only the scope of their music, but also it's
emotional range. They're now much harder to pin down in terms
of genre and sound but still pack one hell of a punch. Even
as a long-term fan, I still found myself amazed and surprised.
“Fingathing & the Big Red Nebula Band” is
an album packed with vision, variety and verve. Astounding
stuff.
 This is an album featuring Crewe"s finest turntablist Peter
Parker and double bass maestro Sneaky from Rae & Christian"s
live band. A collaboration between two talented musicians
could easily descend into bland muso masturbation but these
two create such a spark together that they manage to fill
an album with really impressive and fresh jams. Anyone who
has caught Rae & Christian live will remember their mid-show
jams that never failed to really get the crowd jumping and
cheering. They flow very well on their own, but also have
an inspired line in special guests. No imported American MC"s
though, just mates of theirs. However, these mates are Stockport"s
leading fish expert Mr Scruff, former DMC champion DJ Noize
and the very soulful Veba, best known for her work on the
first Rae & Christian album. This is a little gem of an
album, high on beats, humour, jazz and sheer joy.
OK, so this is just a little reissue with a bonus
4 track CD of remixes (which is all right, but not worth
worrying about if you already have the album) but this really
is one of the finest albums of 2001. Terms like 'post-rock',
'experimental' or 'downbeat' are too lazy to apply to an
album like this (although they are probably the right sections
of your record store to look in). This is a magical soundscape
of acoustic harmonies, flocks of electronic melodies and
hip-hop/r'n'b rhythms. Imagine if you rolled all the tracks
from the Beta Bands 2nd EP together as an instrumental with
DJ Premier at the controls. If you can imagine that, then
you're halfway to knowing what the second track on the album
'Twenty Three' sounds like. It defies genre and convention,
yet is still incredibly accessible. I've played it to pop
kids, trance lovers, techno heads and people who don't like
music very much and it's met with all their approval. If
you've already got it, well done, if not then why not?
 How could anyone follow up an infallible album like 'Pause'?
the answer is, amazingly, by topping it. Kieran Hebden has
made another incredible album. It's not 'Pause 2', but a
whole new ball game. The recent single 'She Moves
She' may have given you some idea that things were moving further into the
e ther but there's more to it than that. 'As Serious As Your Life' sounds
like some mad 60's Californian freakbeat remastered by Timbaland for the
Millennium. There are few songs in the world more beautiful than the piano
led epic 'Unspoken',
which tops even Thomas Newman's soundtrack to 'American Beauty' for poignant
majesty. It doesn't even seem like that long since the last album came out,
but that might just be because I've never stopped playing it. Following in
the food steps of a ground-breaking classic album is usually impossible,
the fan normally has to make a small concession to disappointment, so let's
here it for Mr.Hebden. More please!
His third album for Ninja Tunes proves to be his best. Here is a wonderful
fusion of dub, instrumental hip-hop with the definite influences of John
Barry and Miles Davis. It makes the perfect chill-out album although there
are a couple of fillers here. It manages to avoid the noisy over-indulgence
that marred his "Carmen" mini-album but is not completly docile. The single "Rocket
Soul" lets rip with wild acid drum "n bass that will worry your neighbours.
Fun, unique and very, very cool.
Drum "n" Bass - the debate continues. It"s been declared the future, it"s been
called old hat, it"s been declared dead and it"s been declared re-born. All
on more than one occasion but whilst media has been saying all these things,
the Beat goes on. The clubs still fill, the records are sold and the music
evolves. You either like it or you do not. It may not be Sunday morning music,
but it has an energy and a scope unrivalled in music.
So the album? Well, the beats are definitely from the tough side of d "n" b.
This is jump-up drum "n" bass but the bass is as funky as it is hard. The actual
music is deep and varied. It shows that is actually the third FLF album. Mark
Barrot, who is from Sheffield incidentally, shows himself to be a major player
in the drum "n" bass scene. This could well be the drum "n" bass album of the
year, but it still won"t convert those nag ging detractors! |
