Jurassic 5 - Quality Control

Interscope Records: 2000

Underground hip-hop, 'backpack' rap... whatever you called it in the late '90s, everyone agreed it was about as non-commercial as the music could get. The MCs involved cared not for bragging about how gangsta' they were or how much bling they made; rather, they were in it for the purist followers of the Four Pillars, outmatching their rapping brethren in verbal wordplay and flaunting their radio unfriendly status on the mixtape circuit. And though a few acts occasionally poked out of obscurity, most casual consumers of hip-hop figured the 'backpack' scene little more than MCs way out of touch with the trends, all too stuck in Golden Age goofiness. Then along came a Jurassic 5.

Right, the J5 crew weren’t the first successful hip-hop act in giving the underground, conscious side of things a needed boost – The Roots had plenty of critical and commercial buzz too. However, The Roots have long been considered a unique entity, what with all those ‘real instruments’ and shit. J5 were strictly old-school, four MCs (Chali 2na, Zaakir, Akil, and Marc 7) and two DJs (Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark) showing off their skills on the courtyards, skate parks, and graffiti spots. Simmering as darlings of Los Angeles backpackers only gets you so far though, and in a move that strangely never derided them as sell-outs, J5 signed a deal with Interscope Records. To that point, the only hip-hop that label ever bothered with was material only associated and approved by Dr. Dre. Okay, Black Eyed Peas too, but almost everyone’s forgotten that act’s old-school cred’, including the Peas themselves. Point being, few could have predicted an underground hip-hop darling would sign to a label who's recent successes included the likes of No Doubt and Limp Bizkit.

The trick worked though, their debut on Interscope (and sophomore LP), Quality Control, gaining J5 greater exposure and the attention of rap fans looking for something of more intellectual substance than bling, bitches, and hyper-violence. These four MCs all play wonderfully off each other, allowing each equal opportunity to shine on verses while perfectly harmonizing on the choruses. Meanwhile, Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark each take turns behind the decks and producer’s console, providing ample amounts of throwback funk for their crew to feed off. Most of the tunes have J5 showing off their lyrical skills, whether as freestyle, ‘keepin’ it real’ brags, or metaphor (gotta’ love a good ol’ basketball rap with The Game). Elsewhere on this album, they tread typical conscious topics like the fallacy of seeking fame (World Of Entertainment (Woe Is Me)) or finding ways of overcoming inner city difficulties with dignity intact (Contribution). For my money though, the turntable showcases are where it’s at, especially Nu-Mark’s Swing Set, where he raids a ton of old-timey jitterbug rug-cutters and mashes them up with funk drum breaks. Top notch material!

Quality Control’s gone down as one of the essentials of throwback Golden Age hip-hop albums. Get it to start your collection if you haven’t already.

Various - Psychotrance 2001: D:Fuse

Moonshine Music: 2000

The Psychotrance series was Moonshine’s preeminent trance DJ mix series - except when it wasn’t, which was most of the time. Okay, back up… Psychotrance was Moonshine’s only trance DJ mix series – except when it wasn’t, which was for most of its ‘90s run. Let me try again… Psychotrance was Moonshine’s first trance DJ mix series, indeed one of the label’s earliest releases. Oddly, they had The Shamen MC, Mr. C, handle the decks for their first edition, soon followed up by Darren Emerson, Slam, Eric Powell and Daz Saund. Wait, who are the last two? Also, despite the name, the series had more emphasis on techno, acid, and even house. Five volumes is a tidy run for a DJ mix series, but it never took off in any significant way. After Daz Saund’s 1997 edition, it seemed destined for Moonshine back catalogue obscurity when the label started shifting focus to hip, fresh genres like breaks, d’n’b, and funky house.

But wait, cried the clubbing masses, we're nearing the turn of the century, and trance is now super popular! Maybe not quite as commercially viable in America as in Europe, but the likes of Oakenfold, Paul van Dyk, Sasha, and Diggers are as close to house-hold names as any DJ could get in those years. Moonshine had to capitalize on the growing interest, and what better way to do so than by dusting off the derelict Psychotrance series? They even found an up-and-coming jock from the American South rinsing out progressive trance in a style similar to the big European names, one Dustin Fusilier, more commonly known as D:Fuse (aka: the cowboy hatted one). Slap the always cool “2000” tag on the title, and you've relaunched a sure-fire success! Shame Psychotrance 2000 kinda' sucked balls.

Actually, I can't recall if it was that bad, but I do recall my first impression of it being an overwhelming roll of the eyes for yet another anthem-bilge bandwagon hop. Looking at that track list now, I'm drawing mostly blanks on the tunes D:Fuse used, so maybe my memory's skewed for some stupid reason. Oh, right, I remember now, it's because I have the much superior follow-up, Psycotrance 2001, in my possession. This one had nearly everything I looked for in my trance at the time (and still do!): proggy, spacey, groovey, Oliver Lieby, Fade Recordsy. D:Fuse hit the perfect sweet spot between progressive trance of before, and dark prog of the near future. There’s a nice mix of classy familiar tunes (L.S.G.’s I’m Not Existing (O. Lieb Main Mix), Schiller’s Ruhe (Humate Mix), Steve Porter’s Mindless), overlooked gems (Memnon’s Search And Rescue, Carrisa Mondavi’s Solid Ground (Fade Vocal Mix)), and neglected rubs of well-rinsed tunes (Wookie Slut’s mix of Traveller & In Motion’s Believe).

I won’t deny seasoned prog disciples will find little unique about D:Fuse’s mix, but it’s a solid collection of tunes for a single disc set. Definitely worth a pick-up should you find it resting in the used shops.

Boards Of Canada - In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country

Warp Records: 2000

Between the critical nostalgia-soaked darling Music Has The Right To Children and the patchy schizophrenic outing Geogaddi, Boards Of Canada released this unassuming EP titled In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country. Okay, using the word ‘unassuming’ with regards to anything Misters Eoin and Sandison did at that point in their career isn’t quite right – they couldn’t sneeze without legions of fans proclaiming it a new masterpiece. It doesn’t get mentioned as often as their LP efforts though, mostly due to the fact the Boards aren’t typically thought of as an EP act. There’s been a few singles from the albums, but short-form players containing exclusive material comes in small supply from the Scottish duo. A shame really, as I’ve found some of their best material is found in these concise collections of music.

For instance, Amo Bishop Roden is Boards at their best: dusty, warped synth pads playing a charming, warm melody, riding along simple downtempo rhythms. Okay, it’s also sort of Boards at their most predictable, but more often than not Amo Bishop Roden is the type of sound most identify with them and look forward to. Kid For Today offers the other side of vintage BoC, what with lazy, hazy trip-hop beats, mellow organ tones, and field recording ambience. Truthfully, they sound like leftovers from the Musical Children sessions, but didn’t quite fit the overall tone of that album. Praise to the B-sides industry!

Or the “We Got A New Sound We’d Like To Try Out, So Here’s A Sample Track With A Couple Older Left-Overs” industry, if you’re the cynical sort. Yeah, for as nice and classic Boards as the opening two tunes are, the titular cut is something else entirely, and given it’s the name of the EP, odds are high this is what BoC wanted our attention focused on. If anything, it hints at where they’d go next with Geogaddi, exploring an uneasy vibe with lyrics fed through a vocoder and disconcerting laughter of children. A promising look, though I’m not sure if many even suspected that was the track’s intent. Hell, maybe it wasn’t at all, but the Boards must have liked the results enough to indulge further for their following LP. Lastly, final track Zoetrope forgoes any suggestiveness of their ‘70s synth inspirations, a spritely bit of ambience that would find a comfortable home on the records of that era’s classicist-leaning composers.

And that’s about it for In A Beautiful Place Out In The Country. Considering its chronological placement within Boards Of Canada’s discography, it’s not surprising this EP goes overlooked most of the time, completely overtaken by the overbearing shadows Music Has The Right To Children and Geogaddi cast in that era. I honestly only gave it a purchase because Lord Discogs keeps recommending it, no matter what sort of downtempo IDM I may be browsing about for at the time. That and Autechre’s Amber. Shit, now I have to start an Autechre collection, don’t I?

Various - Planet Rave, Vol. 1 (2014 Update)

Triloka Records: 2000

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review)


This CD really could use a do-over review. The one I originally wrote reeked of early amateur ‘skill’, rambling on with inconsequential tangents and wilfully injecting personal opinions where they weren't warranted (to say nothing about taking forever in getting to an actual point). Come to think of it, there are a number of reviews like that from the early TranceCritic years. With most of these full-length Updates, I usually shoot the shit about my old writing process, maybe throw in an anecdote or three, and fill in any noteworthy developments with the artist or label involved. I haven't considered writing a 'better' review as an option, because what else can I say that wasn't exhaustively covered in an old one? Yet that's beside the point, isn't it – why not offer something actually readable instead of eye-numbingly detailed? Lord knows there are a few such releases coming up that deserve a good, updated review.

Which bring me back to Planet Rave, Vol. 1: does it deserve such a do-over? That isn’t a slam against Triloka Records, but I know what’s up. I can feel the apathy oozing from your eye-sockets, the drab cover-art sapping your will to read much further than this. Even back when it sat in the early TranceCritic archives with little competition for attention, it languished in obscurity. Of course, a generic title like this one won’t entice curious explorers of overlooked music either.

Ironic, isn’t it. Triloka’s entire manifesto was built around bringing overlooked music from around the world to the ears of adventurous American audiences. Some of it was re-distribution of early world beat, such as the Bill Laswell sample-heavy project Material or euro-dancey Indian-pop German group Dissidenten (yes, that was somehow a legitimate thing). Or you might find a few oddities in the Triloka discography, such as Junior Vasquez providing a remix of harpist Emer Kenny’s Golden Brown - say, did Joanna Newsom ever get a Junior Vasquez remix? I bet not!

Even those names are comparatively known compared to the sorts that made up Triloka’s rotation. Ismaël Lô, Ashkaru, Little Wolf Band, Wasis Diop, Walela, Ziroq, Freddie Redd (!): this is some deep digging from many corners of the world, my friends. Two of the heavily featured groups on Planet Rave, Vol. 1 (note: there never was a Vol. 2) are Tulku and Jai Uttal & The Pagan Love Orchestra, hardly house-hold names but the closest thing to in-house stars the label managed. I maintain throwing in five Tulka tracks – including three remixes of Meena Devi - is overkill on a CD intended as a label showcase, but I cannot deny the group had crossover success. Well, if you consider being featured in the Brendan Fraser/Elizabeth Hurley comedy Bedazzled a crossover success – probably got more exposure from frequent Buddha Bar appearances.

And I’ve about run out of self-imposed word count. No proper do-over review for Planet Rave, Vol. 1, then, wonky track sequencing and all. So it goes for the Triloka legacy, sadly.

Various - Planet Dance

Tommy Boy Silver Label: 2000

Planet Dance is another entry in the ongoing history of “Good Music, Bad Covers”. To begin with, the title is utterly generic, and though hyperbolic sub-titles are almost mandatory, even a rote rookie wouldn’t be fooled into thinking Planet Dance is selling what it claims. I’ll give some credit for choosing a minimalist design in artwork, but I’m not sure what that thing is supposed to be. An all-white ‘P’ overlapping a block-spectrum of a ‘D’? And the logo in the bottom corner, is that really Tommy Boy’s, the label famously known as an early leader in hip-hop and urban soul? When did they get on the dance music money train?

Truth be told, they’ve flirted in and out of dance culture for just as long, including a few hip-house tracks when it had short-lived chart strength. After Daft Punk re-invigorated house music and the clubs that supported it in the back-half of the ‘90s, it wasn’t such a bad idea to throw one’s hat into the lucrative pile. Tommy Boy already had plenty of ties and connections to New York City clubs, and a little extra market penetration outside their core demographic wouldn’t hurt. Big gay diva house it is, then.

Thus Tommy Boy established a sub-label specifically catering to the needs of house heads, Tommy Boy Silver. Planet Dance is a summation of tracks that had been released through the label’s first couple years of existence, and remarkably ace throughout for a bandwagon jump. While I wouldn’t call all these ‘club hits’ like the CD claims, there are quite a few memorable anthems on here, and plenty of noteworthy names of the time, including Cevin Fisher leading the charge. Never a bad thing hearing Burning Up or The Freaks Come Out again; a few Junior Vasquez remixes also goes down easy. Squeezed into this mix are a few surprises too.

For instance, Demi Moore is on here! Yes, that Moore, sampled from a world-beat track where she read poetry, now set to a big house cut with orchestral swells and builds (A Gift Of Love’s Do You Love Me, for the record). Or how about a pre-Get Physical M.A.N.D.Y. showing up as Oakland Stroke for a funky outing in Planet Whip, inspired by the way-oldie Let It Whip from Dazz Band? Yeah, didn’t see that one coming, did you?

Nor a pile of hard house either, I wager. Not content in cornering the disco house scene, Tommy Boy Silver got in on the ravier side of things, including Mario Più’s hit Communication (aka: that phone song), and the one-off DJ Irene project P.I.M.P. Project (Kick Your Legs Higher is proto-‘donk’!). Bridging the gap between hard house and progressive house (kinda’) is Hypertrophy, with four tracks of theirs in this mix – geez, they only released five singles. It’s probably a bit much for those who never cared for ‘bells-n-plucks’ riffs, but when surrounded with strong funky vibes, they make for nice sweetener. Definitely a surprising keeper, Planet Dance is.

William Ørbit - Pieces In A Modern Style

WEA Records: 2000

It’s this album’s fault. Those crummy trance remixes of classical music wouldn’t exist had William Orbit not set the standard for synth covers of the form. Well, okay, it wasn’t specifically his fault, since it was a Ferry Corsten remix of his interpretation of Adagio For Strings that got Tiësto’s megalomania rolling and weak-sauce Classical Trancelation bilge encroaching upon the market. None of it would have happened if Orbit hadn’t allowed the Corsten remix in the first place, thus preventing further ‘inspirations’ from lesser producers. Except for whoever was inspired by Cygnus-X’s The Orange Theme instead, I guess - that one got remixed and covered a bunch too. But no one would have made dance music with classical music without Orbit’s initial guiding hand. Save all those old school rave acts that flat-out sampled orchestral musical passages. Orbit though, he made it all popular and shit, that’s what happened. Not that Isao Tomita hadn’t beaten him to the punch twenty years earlier. Umm…

Help me out here, guys. Why was this album so bad again? It isn’t? Well, that’s news, considering the reputation Pieces In A Modern Style earned in the wake of everything that followed. I suppose a smidge of blame can be pointed here for Orbit’s Adagio For Strings immersing itself into clubland’s consciousness - before that, it was primarily only known to non-classical buffs for that scene in Platoon. Yet, using Romantic and baroque scales in trance music was inevitable, those sweeping musical swells tailor-made for hands-in-the-air euphoria. Okay, Orbit, you’re off the hook on this one.

Here's the crux of Pieces In A Modern Style: for a classical music covers collection, it's adequately quaint. Like many instances of Orbit's pop productions, this music goes down easy, like a cool cup of water with a hint of honey, but still far and away from the sort of electronic music he was known for. Small surprise he’d go with an alias of The Electric Chamber to initially release it then, hedging his bets that the audience who enjoyed the Strange Cargo series wouldn’t be too warm to this material; or he hoped he’d sneak the album through the licensing lawyers unnoticed. That didn’t work out for him though, and Pieces In A Modern Style was promptly withdrawn from stores, mostly unremarked and forgotten.

Flash forward a few years, and Orbit’s hit the big time by giving Madonna some of her biggest hits in years! Shit, son, with that kind of clout back on his side, why not re-release the passion project from before? After excising the troubling tracks, he added in a few more new works from Beethoven, Cage, Vivaldi, and Handel, and the rest is history, bringing another side of Orbit’s to the limelight. Pieces like Ogive, Opus 123, and Xerxes are all quite lovely and dreamy, though hardly challenging in their interpretations. Ol’ William has his distinctive style, and utilized it in pieces from the ancient school. A handy beginner’s CD into modern classical, this.

Various - Nokturnel Mix Sessions: Robert Oleysyck

Topaz: 2000

Nokturnel Mix Sessions had kicked things off fine with Blue Amazon, and Bill Hamel was a decent follow-up. After that though, the list of recognizable jocks Topaz tapped for their DJ mix series ran out pretty fast. Maybe within localized scenes, chaps like DJ Moda and OS/2 were a bigger deal – there are countless examples of “big fish, small ponds” throughout the DJ world, the sort of dependable rinsers the touring stars would insist as their warm-up guys. And there’s nothing wrong with that, many content and comfortable with that level of fame. Unfortunately, when it comes to promoting an upstart trance label, the lack of big-name recognition can hurt long-term prospects, no matter how promising the early output is.

Take this mix from Robert Oleysyck, the third of the Nokturnel Mix Series (I figured the order out, praise be catalogue numbers). Do you know him? Don’t be ashamed if you don’t, though if you were into this music to any degree in the year 2000 while living in America, you might have come across his name. For you see, he passed the time writing trance reviews in the pages of Mixer (essentially America’s Mixmag) alongside his DJing. In a coincidence I’m sure Mixer’s editors had a good chortle over, Oleysyck was even tasked with reviewing the initial volley of Nokturnel Mix Sessions, including his own mix for the series. Aw man, how can anyone maintain journalistic integrity reviewing their own work? I can’t recall what he wrote, but I do remember he gave himself a 7/10, about as political an approach to this conundrum as any.

As for me, yeah, I’d rank this a seven too, if I did numerical scores anymore. One thing I’ll give Mr. Oleysyck credit for is he definitely knows how to put together a progressive trance CD. In fact – and I know I’m going way out on a limb saying this - Nokturnel Mix Sessions (this one) is possibly the most perfect summation of that scene I’ve ever heard. What ol’ Robert accomplishes within the context of one CD, most releases took two or even three discs to get across.

What works best about this mix is Oleysyck’s patience, spending the opening few tracks on sparse, groovy prog-house like Sander Kleinenberg’s Frog Dancing - even the opening ‘anthemy’ cut of Saints & Sinners’ Thin Ice is relatively subdued and chill. Can’t deny making a similar mix from Space Manoeuvres’ Stage One to Kleinenberg’s Sacred as Sasha did on GU: 013 reeks of jock riding, but Oleysyck somehow outdoes Mr. Coe’s finale from that classic mix, relegating Bedrock’s Heaven Scent to mere ‘third status’ near the end. Instead Christian West’s Eterna and Jon Vesta’s Gull mark our proper climax, the latter of which deserves far more appreciation compared to other progressive trance anthems of the era. Definitely a solid capper on a strong set from Oleysyck, though the rest of his mix contains little else innovative.

Dub Trees - Nature Never Did Betray The Heart That Loved Her

LSD - Liquid Sound Design: 2000

This is the sort of CD that was destined for an 'impulse buy'. Fifty bones to drop in the music shop, with so many familiar artists floating about; yet rather predictable in what you'll get on a disc. No, I'll hold off on getting another progressive trance DJ mix or deep house label compilation. I want something new and unexpected, but just familiar enough that it won't possibly be a total waste of money. There, that CD with 'Dub Trees' on the cover. I know dub music, and with a hippie-dippy title like Nature Never Did Betray The Heart That Loved Her, I've a good feeling the music will be something like Waveform Records. Hm, Youth's the main producer here. I feel like I should know that name. Oh well, Dragonfly Records usually releases psy-trance, so maybe we'll get some Planet Dog type of psychedelic dub stuff.

Yeah, we got that, and more. For a psy-dub album, Nature Never etc. etc. is remarkably diverse, Youth dipping his dubby toes deep into various forms of the genre. For his dub roots run deep, like a tree, yo' – you could even say *dons dreadlock wig* he's a Dub Tree, yeaaahh, mon! Wait, that wasn’t a pun?

Anyhow, Martin Glover had been floating about various music scenes for a while, most famously playing bass in post-punk band Killing Joke and contributing to early albums from The Orb and System 7. Along the way he got sucked into the world of goa trance, and even found time to set up a label promoting the stuff. He must have gotten right proper inspired by the emerging psy-dub sounds that were carrying on from what Dr. Alex Paterson and he had kicked off with ambient dub, taking his own stab at it with this one-off Dub Trees project. Roping in for music contributions were long-time producing partner Greg Hunter, plus Simon Posford, fresh off his first Shpongle LP. Indian world-dub fusion group Suns Of Arqa also contribute, but no Bill Laswell, because Dub Trees already gots them a bass player, mang.

With so many influences thrown into this dub soup, Nature Never yada yada yada is about as offbeat and eclectic as this music can go without stepping outside its comfort zone. There are straight-up reggae rhythms (Butterfly Trilogy), synthy interludes (Cobalt Waterfall), quirky sampling (Buffalo, La Rosa), dark meditative excursions (Orpheus), opium dens flying through space (Dreamlab), psy-dub grooves (Magnetica), and goof-ball bass drops (Concrete Tourist). All of which, natch, filtered through more dub effects than you can shake a King Tubby at.

If all this sounds like “just another trippy dub album”, you’re right, although Youth’s definitely a better song crafter than most out there, having rubbed shoulders with so many masters of the genre. This album also acts as a sort of bridge between ambient dub of the ‘90s, and psy-dub of the ‘00s, not a bad thing if you’ve endlessly debated the merits of either. Does anyone even do that?

Various - Montreal Mix Sessions Vol. 4 - Lafleche

Turbo: 2000

Montreal as a hub of innovative musical trends rivaled only by the hippest ‘burbs of New York City has been the indie narrative for years, but that wasn’t always the case. Despite being one step ahead of the rest of North America, general music journalism goes through periods of disinterest with the region, the ‘90s a particularly fallow period as I recall. Guess that’s what happens when all the sexy business is going down on the other side of the continent. Still, Montreal carried on doing its thing, continually inspired by the sounds of Europe, patiently waiting for the rest of North America to catch on.

It was about the time this CD came out that Turbo finally found its footing and spread its manifesto out from Montreal. Unfortunately for LaFleche Morin, a veteran DJ of that scene and one of the first chaps Tiga tapped for the Mix Sessions series, he released his second DJ set for the label just before things truly took off. While I'm sure his gig career remained as steady as it ever was, Lafleche's contribution to Turbo's been relegated to something of a footnote, a dutiful soldier who helped get things rolling but never got to bask in the lime-light that followed.

Even his mix, classy though it is, comes off over-familiar if you followed funky, disco house at the turn of the millennium. I know I’ve a few of these tracks on other CDs, though LaFleche does provide his own rubs for The Real Jazz and That Zipper Track. Plenty of recognizable names show up – Jamie Anderson, Trevor Rockcliffe, Sébastien Léger, DJ Sneak, Paranoid Jack, and Gene Farris the ones I’ve heard before. Unknowns to my eyes are DJ Maxhens, DJ Nekbath, Bert Dunk, John Kano, and Tomba Vira. These last two mark a small detour LeFleche indulges in late in the set, featuring Afro and Latin rhythms, capped off by a bit of tribal chant-stomp in Rockcliffe’s Love Music. Fast forward to the late ‘00s, and folks are praising the likes of Luciano for playing similar stuff, yet here’s LaFleche rinsing out the worldly rhythms nearly a decade earlier. I told you Montreal was ahead of the game!

That said, there’s little to recommend in Montreal Mix Sessions 4. It’s a fun set, sure, but unremarkable all things considered – Moonshine was hawking similar CDs around this time too, not to mention several other upstart labels emerging during those boom times for electronic music. If you were raw to house, your prior knowledge coming from Hed Kandi collections, then this was like opening a door to a whole new realm of funky rhythm hedonism. For the seasoned weekend warrior though, LaFleche’s offering would come off old-hat.

Perhaps Tiga realized this, as the final Montreal Mix Sessions, his own Mixed Emotions, saw a radical departure from house of this sort. Not to mention every Mix Sessions CD after featuring DJs from realms of non-Francophone origin. Change was definitely in the winds at Turbo.

Thievery Corporation - The Mirror Conspiracy

4AD: 2000

Not to sound too up my own ass, but I was always a little smug around my peers in discovering Thievery Corporation before most of them. I shouldn’t be that smug, since I only found out about the Washington downtempo duo when 4AD, of all labels, redistributed their classic Sound From The Thievery Hi-Fi two years after it’d already come out on Thiev-Corp’s own Eighteenth Street Lounge Music. Dammit though, I was the first in my circle to find it, and it wasn’t until their sophomore album, The Mirror Conspiracy, that the duo broke out from underground-darling status with chill-out crossover potential. And for that, I… kinda lost the plot with them.

Not that I blame Garza and Hilton for refining the dubby, hip-hop groove they made for themselves - adopting Latin and jazz elements into a genre already filled with Jamaican and urban influences was a fine idea. They certainly proved capable of pulling it off, with tunes like Lebanese Blonde and So Come Voce getting tons of rotation on every loungey chill-out compilation that mattered (and then some).

The Mirror Conspiracy isn’t just some nifty bossa nova for smoky basements though, as oodles of ethnically diverse music finds its way throughout the album. Indra gets its bhangra on at points, plenty of Arabic nods crops up (Illumination, ), the Hong Kong Triad sounds like it could have fit snuggly in a ‘60s mod movie, and even that Afro-Brazillian percussion style batacuda gets its nod in Air Batacuda …hehe, ‘batucada’. Nearly every track features some unique stylistic origin while always maintaining a distinct dubbed-out cool vibe that’s wholly the Thievery Corporation’s. It’s just a shame so many of them are too damned short.

Perhaps I was spoiled by the lengthier tunes on their first album, but longer running time would make the songs on The Mirror Conspiracy so much more immersive. I want to get lost in Samba Tranquille’s blissy shuffle for longer than three minutes. I want to forever float on rivers of funky dub with Tomorrow. And what the Hell, Bebel Gilberto doesn’t even get three minutes at providing a soulful croon in So Com Voce? A few cuts do offer reasonable length – tribal Illumination, jazzy Focus On Sight clock in over four minutes, and Indra gets a whopping five-plus to strut her stuff (whoa, what is this, prog?). Considering, at thirteen tracks, the The Mirror Conspiracy runs well less of an hour, there wasn’t any reason for Garza and Hilton to indulge themselves a little - unless these were intended as radio-friendly versions, trotted out for easy licensing. Given how many songs did end up on compilations and chill-out mixes, maybe so.

I won’t go so far as to call Thiev-Corp’s newer style ‘pop’, but it is far more accessible for mass audiences compared to many other downtempo artists of similar ilk. Fair enough if that’s their goal (and judging by their follow-up albums, it was), but it wasn’t for me. Solid live shows though!

Various - Masters Of The 1 & 2: History's Greatest DJs

Priority Records: 2000

Folks have moaned “everyone's a DJ” for so long, I’ve forgotten its origins. I suspect it began close to the turn of the century, when the Great UK Clubbing Machine was in hype-overdrive, turning regular jocks into idols. Soon it seemed everyone was hopping on the DJ bandwagon, because if those guys can perfunctorily mix two records together to the adulation of several hundred punters, so can I, and you, and your mom, and your mom's dog. Get an opening slot at the local pub or dingy rave, and you've got it made!

Recognizing the growing popularity of DJing, MTV got themselves in on some of that action with this here compilation. And yet, someone in office must have been sick of glorified jukeboxes earning all the attention, as Masters Of The 1 & 2 spotlights the true warriors of the wheels of steel. Whether heroes of the past or stalwarts of the current generation, this CD’s as comprehensive a turntablism representation one could have hoped for (licensing and sample clearance makes things difficult in this scene). Wow, MTV producing something musically informative? The ‘90s really were a topsy-turvy time!

Turntabalism typically has two subsets of craft: the collagist mash-up, and the scratchers. Many tracks will implement both, but it's easy to tell the difference between those DJs relying on battle tools versus original tunes for their compositions. Masters Of The 1 & 2 has a heavier focus on the scratchers (DJ Q-Bert, Mix Master Mike, DJ Premier, DJ Babu, Rob Swift) since clearing rights to mash-up productions is all sorts of headaches.

Of the mashy cuts, we get a couple to kick things off, one from Peanut Butter Wolf (who also provides liner notes), and another credited to Eastern Conference All-Stars (it’s a ‘megamix’, but aren’t they all?). The latter’s not really a good representation of turntable trickery, but Showtime At The Dump is a great opener, offering all the hippity-bippity beats one can dig on with clever layering and scratching throughout. And is totally outclassed by the live recording of Coldcut’s More Beats & Pieces mid-CD. Holy shit, this track is fucking nuts! Why couldn’t it have been on the single? Oh, and Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel closes the CD out, appropriately so.

Speaking of old school, while it’s cool they got a few seminal tracks like Grand Wizard Theodore’s Military Cut and Davy DMX’s One For The Treble, the highlight of these vintage scratchers is easily Grandmaster Caz & Chris Stein’s Wild Style Theme Rap 1, featuring an extended scratch session that’s mesmerizing. The turntable cats of the new school on this CD hold their own, but for raw energy, Grandmaster Caz outshines them.

And perhaps that was the point of Masters Of The 1 & 2, making sure the honoured elders of the scene got their proper respect. Mission accomplished then, MTV. This CD’s an excellent introduction to the true greats of DJing, one every would-be jock should seek out and enjoy.

Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP

Interscope Records: 2000

I admit I've yet to check out The Marshall Mathers LP 2. Yes, I know it's been heralded as a proper-proper return to form for Eminem (no, for realsies this time!). To be honest though, it's hard to get excited about anything Eminem's done for over a decade now, as I gave up on his shtick around the D12 debut, not even bothering with The Eminem Show (“nobody listens to techno”? Lamest. Diss. Ever.).

For all the verbal dexterity lil' Slim's given us over the years, I suspected early he's only as good as he's got something poignant to prove. Slim Shady LP was about making his mark, Marshall Mathers LP's about dealing with his successful aftermath and not coming off as a novelty (hey, look at the good white rapper!). The Eminem Show though, what's left to prove? Sure, he can still come up with decent songs filled with sly wit, but it's a treading album. If I want to hear more of Em' dealing with fame, issues, and shit, I'll just throw on MMLP again, thanks. It's got better songs. After that... well, I jumped ship early, and turns out my assumptions about Eminem's drive as an artist weren't far off. Still, if the buzz surrounding MMLP2 is true, it would indeed appear that he's hungry in all the right ways again.

But enough of that. What is it about MMLP that’s held in such high esteem more than a decade on? Part of it truly was the growth in maturity as an artist Em’ showed us. Few rappers got as big as Mr. Mathers did in such a rapid amount of time, if ever. Lesser MCs often take their newfound fame as a chance to endlessly brag, but Em’ gives us a remarkably humble inside look into the pitfalls of such notoriety. Whether detailing over-obsessive fandom (Stan, The Real Slim Shady, Who Knew) or the societal conditions that could create an icon such as Slim Shady (The Way I Am, Marshall Mathers, Bitch Please II, Criminal), he illuminates American problems along with the shock stories and battle raps. Yep, he proved he could do conscious hip-hop!

It also helped he had Dr. Dre on hand while the good doc’ was still on fire after Chronic 2001’s success, giving us strong beats aplenty with few duds. One of the few non-Dre highlights is the megahit Stan, whom introduced Dido to the US (eh, I already knew her through Faithless), and convinced housewives all over to buy this album. Imagine their surprise at how the rest of the album went, including the brutal endurance test that is Kim at the other end. Em’ also produced the fiery The Way I Am, proving his capabilities behind the boards as well with pen and paper.

This used to be the only Eminem album you were supposed to have, even if you weren’t an Eminem fan. Guess I’ll have to check out MMLP2 now to confirm that. Things I do for accuracy.

Radiohead - Kid A

EMI Music Canada: 2000

The most important album to have, if you want to have a credible taste in music. That's right, Boomers, your 'most important albums' are no longer relevant! Dark Side Of The Moon? Pet Sounds? Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?? Pft, as if they could compare to the true importance of Radiohead's most important album. Your old, fuddy-duddy classic be-bop is old, old timers. This one, this defines a generation. Not just any generation, but all generations. Bach couldn't compare to Radiohead. Nirvana couldn't compare to Radiohead. Hank Williams Sr, Jr, and III can't stand against the might of Radiohead. Maybe Miles Davis, Aphex Twin, and The Stanley Brothers can be held in the same breath as Radiohead, but those artists never earned the coveted Seal Of Pretentious Perfection from Pitchfork. Never, I says!

Okay, even the douchiest McHipster skinny-pants wouldn't come off that stupid, but man, the way so many contemporary indie rags went on about Kid A, you'd think that was the common line of thought. In some regards, I can't blame them for the over-reaction of adulation. Here it was, an album that our generation could claim as a modern work of art, one that could be held in the highest esteem along side all those Boomer greats that get carted out for regular Rolling Stone “best all-time” duty. And what was even better, Kid A was something we figured our parents wouldn't quite understand, what with all those electronic noises, effects, and tinkering that the guys at Warp Records had been doodling about with for the past decade. This was music that was looking to the future as much as utilizing the past, thus making it ours, ours, ours! What's that, mums and pops, you don't get the droning ambient bliss of Treefingers or the glitchy manipulation of Thom Yorke's voice on Everything In Its Right Place? Of course you don't.

Actually, I must say something that'll make me come off as the ultimate hipster around: I was into Kid A before it was cool. “How can that be possible,” you ask, “when the album was considered cool almost as soon as it the shelves?” Yeah, that was one of the perks about working a music shop, getting CDs before street date and such. Even ahead of throwing it on for a demo, I knew Radiohead's fourth would be special – no popular band makes album art and packaging that unique without something equally original committed to disc. I only had a passing respect for the band (OK Computer had some good tunes), but little of their output made me want to dig into their discography. And even after picking up Kid A, that feeling remains.

Therein lies this album's strength. You don't have to be a fan of Radiohead, indie rock, or whatever to enjoy it. All that's required is an appreciation for music and the limitless potential it holds. Just, y'know, don't be a smug, fedora-wearing, scarf-snuffling twat about it.

Pink Floyd - Is There Anybody Out There? (The Wall Live 1980-81)

Columbia: 2000

The only rock opera you're supposed to have, even if you're not much of a rock opera fan. What about The Who's Tommy, you ask? Pft, that one never had tunes as wickedly catchy as Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2 or Young Lust, nor as emotionally evocative as Hey You and Comfortably Numb. That's four classic rock staples, not to mention a whole bunch more should the station get more adventurous (though you’ll never, ever hear Bring The Boys Back Home, I guarantee ...unless it’s a The Wall tribute).

Oh, you’ve noticed this isn’t The Wall, but a live recording of the same album. Heh, it’s a good album, but I can’t see anyone other than completists needing both. It’s essentially the same thing, only this one comes with crowd noises (pretty cool hearing a cheer when Waters asks whether “they’ll like this song” in Mother), extended versions of some songs (including the awesome What Shall We Do?, cut due to vinyl constraints; not sure why CD versions haven’t added it back in though), and the usual extra energy good live recordings always have. So one or the other, it probably doesn’t matter which you get, but here’s my case for getting the live version.

The whole concept Roger Waters had in mind for the piece was one of audience interaction; or rather, losing contact with the very audience that’d come to see Pink Floyd in concert. What better way to depict such an event than by building a literal wall between the band and crowd? Along the way, a whole narrative came about, mostly based on Waters’ life growing up and alienation with the rock lifestyle. While the specifics may differ, the idea of building emotional barriers in our life is easily identifiable, and it’s no surprise The Wall was as successful as it was as a body of music alone. Taking it to the spectacle of the stage, where Waters could engage in all sorts of call-and-response moments with the crowd, only enhances the concept. A song like Is There Anybody Out There? is a haunting piece on its own, but imagine standing in a darkened stadium with nothing but a faceless wall looming in front of you, the band all but gone from sight. Or being urged on by Waters to tear down the wall at the end, a cathartic release for anyone that suffered from such insular depression. Damn, wish I could have seen that back in the day, but I’d only taken one trip around the sun by that point.

Anyhow, when it came time to pick up The Wall (because it’s a rock opera album- never mind), I went with this live version – it seemed appropriate, given the emotional punch of many songs being intensified with audience interaction. Not as good as being there in person but it’ll do until Waters carts out another tour for it over here. He’s still spry enough to do it at, what, one hundred and three?

Colette - In The Sun

Afterhours: 2000

Now here’s a gal with an interesting career. Blessed with the looks you’d associate with euro-dance pop tarts, Ms. Colette Marino instead carved out a career in the relatively underground side of house music. She initially made her mark through the DJ circuit, but would often sing her own vocals over top tracks, helping her stand out from an already overstuffed DJ market (that whole ‘being a woman’ thing probably didn’t hurt either). She produced a few tracks for various labels in her early career, and OM Records eventually gave her an opportunity to let her singing and song-writing take front-and-center, releasing a pair of albums to mild success within the deep house scene. They were rather poppy, true, but a lot of that West Coast bumpin' vibe already skewed that way, ties to disco and funk of yesteryear undeniable. They weren’t crossover attempts (though if it had happened, I doubt anyone would complain), but simply enjoyable moments of clubbing fluff the house faithful could get down to. Y'know, Hed Kandi fodder.

Given the general reactions some scenes have towards their lady DJs indulging in their pop potential, it's a testament to the classiness of house-heads that they never turned their backs on Colette (like, say, the jungle scene did to DJ Rap). It certainly helps she earned more than enough respect at the turn of the century with her DJing, honoring the deep, soulful vibes inherent to Chicago's legacy in her chosen style. This here In The Sun, released on near-Chicago label Aftermath, is as fine a representation of her talents as any.

Right, so coming off that DJ Dan mix CD, she isn't quite that good. Occasional forced mixes do crop up, but I can live with them so long as the shoes are kept out of the dryer. If you think it unfair of me to compare the two, it’s not my fault that this disc features music of pretty much the same vein. And hey, what are the odds we’d get another mix of loopy, filtered disco house one after the other in this alphabetical stipulation of mine? Okay, so it could happen if it was a running series, or both happened to be named after the similarity of genre, but that’s not the case here. In The Sun and In Stereo are two totally different releases on two totally different labels by two totally different DJs of two totally different sexes. Released but a year from each other, and just happens to have very similar taste in music. THE ODDS!!

Colette’s take on this sound is definitely more Chicago-based though, so the disco gets dubby for durations while those filter knobs get their tweak on. One of the few things that helps In The Sun stand out from all the other disco-dub house mixes of the time is the inclusion of a Sombionx’s jazzstep remix of Colette’s own Try Her For Love. Ending your set in such an unexpected fashion? That takes some balls, woman!

Tiësto - In Search Of Sunrise 2

Songbird: 2000

I knew almost nothing about Tiësto way back in 2004, beyond a few class remixes and that he was ridiculously popular among the trancecrackers of the world. I’d moved on from trance as the new millennium took form, so all his accolades didn’t matter much to yours truly. Unfortunately, that’s an incredibly ignorant stance to take when you’ve been brought on as a writer and editor for a burgeoning website called TranceCritic. Shit, son, ya’ll better get caught up to speed on this Tijs Verwest fella’ in a hurry, and what better way than to buy the DJ mix CD that tends to top fans’ favorites lists. Alright, fine, it can’t be all that bad. I mean, it was released in the year 2000, when the genre still had good material being cranked out along all the Dutch cheddar. There… won’t be much of the cheese here, will there…?

Nope. The In Search Of Sunrise series was meant to showcase a mellower, Balearic side to Tiësto’s DJing, and this second volume has that in spades, so no room for über-anthems here. The opening run of tracks are about as fine a collection of summery, breezy tunes as one could hope for, including Summerbreeze from the Tijs and Benno de Goeij pairing of Kamaya Painters. Rui da Silva’s overplayed Touch Me follows it, but it wasn’t overplayed when ISOS2 came out, so, um, fair play?

Things go wonk after that, the mix from Touch Me into Salt Tank’s Eugina just abysmal, a horrible clashing of genres despite keeping the Balearic tone. Whatever, the tune’s mint and such a rough transition’s easily forgotten. After that though… God, it’s that stupid, pointless vocal mix of Cass & Slide’s Perception. I’ll admit I’m hopelessly biased against it since I heard the original instrumental on Sasha’s GU13, and by slapping some useless singing from Naimee Coleman overtop, it reeks of desperate commercial pandering (doesn’t help matters it was done without Cass & Slide’s consent). Oddly, I don’t hate the vocal version either, as I find the singing easy to ignore, my brain almost subconsciously tricking me into thinking it’s the original version. Funny how that lump o’ gray matter can do that.

From there the mix goes through various offerings of progressive trance – including more vocals that at least aren’t so useless as the ones in Perception - that anyone familiar Oakenfold’s output of the same time will have heard. Tracks like Mekka’s Diamondback, Fortress’ An Angel Saved My Life, Breeder’s Tyrantanic, and Max Graham’s Airtight all make the cut, and while undoubtedly sounded great brand new, most have seen duty elsewhere plenty times since, and ISOS2 doesn’t do much to elevate them from the glut.

In fact, wait a moment… *checks previous reviews* Well I’ll be damned, Max Graham literally used three of the same tracks for his Cream CD2, in almost the same order! Both mixes also came out around the same time too. Quite a coincidence, if you believe in such things.

Banco de Gaia - Igizeh

Six Degrees Records: 2000

Anyone recall hearing The Prodigy's Fat Of The Land for the first time? The initial anticipation of new music from an act you enjoy, but feeling content in the assumption they couldn't surprise you any longer? Remember how Smack My Bitch Up utterly abolished those preconceived notions? If you're feelin' what I'm preachin' here, my friends, then you'll have an inclining of how I reacted to hearing Seti I on Banco de Gaia's fifth album.

I'm by no means comparing the two tracks, as they're worlds apart (although they do both make use of an ethnic vocalization). In terms of how they kicked off their respective albums, however, and how they represent everything good about the producers behind them, they're quite similar. At first ear-glance, Seti I works a slow-building atmosphere with oodles of nature samples and chants. A stomping rhythm emerges, and a ridiculously catchy vocal hook joins in. For the duration, this tune absolutely gets the blood pumping. I don't think Toby Marks has ever opened another album stronger than Igizeh, yet Seti I is barely known; heck, it didn't even make it to his 10 Years retrospective or other such collections. So, um, I guess the Prodigy comparison ends there.

Since Seti I wasn’t a single from an album that saw at least two, Igizeh must be an astounding album. Eh, it's good, but not that good. It's actually a rather curious one when you consider the context it came out in. As odd as it sounds, the album finds Marks doing a fair bit of bandwagon jumping, yet somehow maintaining his distinctive sound throughout. The first single, Obsidian, appears to borrow quite a bit from progressive trance, with the (barely comprehensible) vocals from Jennifer Folker lending it further to something far more commercial than you'd ever expect from Banco de Gaia (until You Are Here anyway). One could say the same about the new version of Glove Puppet, a dead-ringer and mint take on trip-hop. Meanwhile, second-single How Much Reality Can You Take has elements of big beat, a notion not gone unnoticed by Jack Dangers when he remixed the tune.

Those were the popular genres of the time (or from a couple years back anyway), but Igizeh features further musical adoption than that. Fake It Till You Make It finds Marks and company going about as full-on Pink Floyd as they ever did back in those days. Gizeh adds Moog funk to their characteristic grand musical builds (Egyptian slave revolutions never sounded so epic!). And B2 sounds like, well, Banco de Gaia did during the early ambient dub days, but with a fresh year-2000 sheen.

So in a roundabout way, Igizeh might have ended up being Banco's most accessible album, but those proggy world-beat attributes didn't quite make it so. The style Marks' project cultivates keeps this firmly on the underground side of music, though as far as 'electronica' albums go, it's remarkably diverse. A bit like that Prodigy album, come to think of it.

DJ John Kelley - High Desert Soundsystem 2

Moonshine Music: 2000

John Kelley's second mix under the High Desert Soundsystem banner was a disappointment when I first threw it on, lacking so many of the big anthems that made the first one quite fun. So of course, over a decade on, I find myself enjoying this one more as a DJ set. I'm not sure what the former funky desert breaks man had in mind when he started doing these CDs, but for the second (and last) volume, he's gone full shuffly, driving techno, with touches of house, tech-trance and a dash of prog. Blend everything in an arid, outdoor tribal vibe, and you have High Desert Soundsystem 2. Ah, Consistency, how you always make mixes better.

So while this makes for a solid CD for the ears, I'm struggling to find much of substance for your eyes. Kelley opens his mix with Samuel L. Sessions, gives us two Timo Maas tracks after that (boy, remember how big his star was supposed to be at the turn of the century?), some fine bangin' material plays out for a while (oh, two Ben Sims!), with a sorta-peak hitting with Trancesetter's classic Roaches, and an easy fade-out with the Fade mix of Carissa Mondavi's Solid Ground. There, done.

Even at fourteen tracks, High Desert Soundsystem 2 isn't a very long set, not even an hour's length. Since most of these tracks don't offer much other than keeping the tribal-tech momentum moving, it's not an issue, as each cut serves its purpose for the brief duration it plays out. Also, Kelley's mixing is quite smooth, a marked improvement over the previous HDSs, but by staying in such a narrow frame of genre-type, something's lost in the unpredictability that came before.

At best, High Desert Double-Loo is a snapshot of whatever John Kelley happened to be playing out at the Moontribe parties at the time ...I assume, anyway. If I wandered over to a stage where he was playing this, you bet I’d be down for these sounds, and if you’re perfectly fine with a CD that captures an hour’s worth of what sounds like at least a three-hour session, by all means scope this disc out.

And there it is. Absolutely nothing else to say. What happen to John Kelley afterwards, you ask? (no, just pretend you did, alright? I’ve still another hundred words to fill here, damn it) He made a mix for the United DJs Of America series (second to last one, in fact), released an album of original breakbeat material in 2005 (well, more of a mid-‘90s throwback, if we’re honest), and not much else of note, according to Lord Discogs. He’s still active, mind you, DJing and lending an occasional production hand to Eastern Sun (who?) – and, of course, playing for Moontribe events whenever they go down. All things considered, it’s unfortunate seeing one of chemical breaks’ biggest supporters seemingly disappear underground with such little fanfare, but such it goes with that genre in the current millennium, it seems.

Various - Helsinki Mix Sessions: Jori Hulkkonen

Turbo Recordings: 2000

In its infancy, Turbo Recordings primarily focused on a DJ mix series titled Mix Sesssions. Initially an outlet for label-head Tiga, it was soon followed by other acts from Montreal. As he grew chummy with several Scandinavian artists, he also gave them opportunities to feature mixes set from their cities overseas – a small-scale Global Underground! It was only Jesper Dahlbäck and Jori Hulkkonen for those first couple years, but their contributions to Turbo were instrumental in raising the label’s prestige beyond some quirky Canadian imprint. Both brought a fresh sophistication to the deep house scene with their CDs that few were aware possible at the turn of the century, exposing a slew of virtually unknown producers to the electronic scene at large.

Ol’ Jori was still a relatively unknown entity when he put this together, at least outside his native Finland. It’d be another year before he teamed up with Tiga as Zyntherius for the hit Sunglasses At Night, but he’d seen the rounds with various projects before then (including that classic bit of European shenanigan in claiming an ‘American’ sounding name for his tech-house releases – you’re fooling no one ‘Bobby Forester’!). For his debut mix, Mr. Hulkkonen opted for more of a mixtape effort, selecting tracks based on personal preference rather than strong set construction. Helsinki Mix Sessions still maintains a strong, deep house vibe throughout, but it doesn’t flow like most house mixes do, more of a showcase on specific tunes and sounds for short durations while holding a steady groove throughout.

The good news is this makes for a deliciously eclectic CD, running the gamut of electro, Balearic, disco, funk (though not in that order) and other classy European flavours as only the Scandinavian house chaps are masters at. The bad news is, well, obvious: too much stylistic jumping leaves for a rather herky-jerky set, segments often coming to an abrupt end before Jori moves onto something else, with little to no ease between these disparate genres.

This in of itself wouldn’t be a deal breaker though, as I’ve heard plenty sets more musically erratic than this one and enjoyed them. Unfortunately, another problem hampers Helsinki Mix Sessions: the mixdown is incredibly muddy, the low end often drowning everything out. I’ve no idea if it’s weak vinyl sources (you can hear plenty of crackles), a manufacturing fault, or just bad luck on my part, but because of the poor sonics, I’ve hardly ever reached for this disc over the years. Shame it ended up that way, as I’d love to hear these tunes with better audio. Oh well.

Actually, no, that’s not alright. Helsinki Mix Sessions may have come out in Turbo’s early years, but none of the other CDs from Tiga’s label sounded this poor. Dammit, Mr. Sontag needs to amend this travesty. I’m gonna go to Montreal and demand a proper copy of Jori Hulkkonen’s only mix! I don’t care if it takes two weeks to do it, but it must be done!

Fatboy Slim - Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars (Clean Version)

Astralwerks: 2000

In some ways, I'm more embarrassed to have this CD than even ICP. Why should I, a grown adult, have a “Kiddies' Clean Version”? Well, it was a gift, but the tongue-in-cheek label on the cover strikes me as deliberately insulting on the manufacturer's part. This isn't just the 'Clean Version', like many hip-hop pop albums offer, oh no. This is for the children, for we at Astralwerks, we thought about the children, oh how we thought about the children. We even moved the image over a little, so the sun no longer peeks through the woman's cooch – hell, you can't even tell it's a woman anymore, much less the sun creating those rays of light. Isn't that better than our usual antics of totally replacing the cover image for stateside distribution?

Norman Cook's Fatboy project was incredibly popular when he released Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars, his prior album offering two or three ultra-mega hits that we still hear today. So that there would be a 'Clean' option for his follow-up doesn't surprise me. It's still baffling why it'd been thought of only for the kids though (what kind of teenager wouldn't get the one with crude language?).

And what major changes can we expect on this “Kiddies' Clean Version”? Star 69's been cut. Yeah, no surprise on that one. Not a big deal losing it though, as beyond the lyrical gimmick, it was a mediocre tune. There's also a slight edit of “what the fuck” in Song For Shelter, which makes- wait! Why didn't they just edit the 'fuck's out of Star 69 too, keeping the track?

Frankly, that's all I can tell's been 'cleaned up'. It's been well over a decade since I've heard the original version, so if some naughty language from Macy Gray or Bootsy Collins was edited out, I don't know anymore. Come to think of it, I don't think it matters where this album's concerned, as Halfway... is a surprisingly mature sounding effort on Cook's part compared to the rest of his discography.

Yeah, he's had his classy moments, but folks were buying up his albums by the boatloads for the big beat party anthems. Halfway... has a couple offerings as such, like Ya Mama and Drop The Hate, yet Cook sounds bored with these cuts, just going through the big beat motions. Far more intriguing (and re-playable because they aren't so dated to late '90s music) are the blues, gospel, funk, and soul offerings. And even with all the crafty beats and samples Cook throws into his tunes, the guest vocalists (including the memorable husky voice of then-soul-queen Macy Gray) help excel what could have been little more than homage to some of ol' Norman's musical upbringing.

Put simply, Halfway... is easily Fatboy Slim's most consistent album, and maybe even his best. Unlike his other albums, which have big hits and forgettable filler, these are all songs I have no problem returning to and keeping lodged in my head.