The Future Sound Of London - Environment Five

fsoldigital.com: 2014

Considering the seemingly endless volumes of From The Archives and, to a lesser extent, Environments, The Future Sound Of London must have had shed-fulls of unused material stored. At least with Environments, they gradually sprinkled in some new stuff too, helping create distinctive album narratives between each edition. And now finally - finally - Dougans and Cobain either found enough inspiration to craft an entirely new album of fresh music under the FSOL banner, or they've used up their entire backlog.

I’ll get the bad news regarding that out of the way: as we’re dealing entirely with post-millennial FSOL here, you bet your bottom dollar Environment Five goes deep into the psychedelic bubble, an attribute that has made their Amorphous Androgynous material a bit of a chore for all but the most dedicated listeners. No, wait a second, that’s not bad news in the slightest! Why shoulda musically dynamic duo remain stuck making tunes they hashed out two decades hence? They can’t very well go around claiming themselves the Future Sound Of London if they don’t keep pushing themselves in finding what future sounds they can craft (for London). Going avant-garde psychedelic-classicalism is good news!

The better-good news is, as Environment Five is all new material, it means Dougans and Cobain had a specific theme in mind while composing this album. Not that the previous Environments lacked themes, but those felt cobbled together - tracks served in creating general moods or milieus, but having little to do with each other. Five, on the other hand, flows like an album proper, with lengthy set pieces, short quiet interludes, and musical ideas and leitmotifs sprinkled throughout. Seriously, they sure love using that... saxophone? I think it’s a saxophone, but knowing these guys, it could be a Tibetan reed-woodwind that only sounds like a saxophone, or even an overlay of the two.

Anyhow, the PR blurbs described Environment Five as an exploration of death. No, not in a morbid, goth manner – there’s more sense of spiritual awakening and contemplation with the music here, as though death is a release from our limited, mortal shells, with realms both grand and humbling awaiting us to explore. Definitely an ambitious venture, and the music does offer tantalizing glimpses. There’s sombre pianos (Source Of Uncertainty, Viewed From Below The Surface), minimalist electro-dub (Machines Of The Subconscious), ethno-fusion baroque (Dying While Being Held), creepy cinematic ambient (Beings Of Light, The Dust Settles), future-shock freak-outs (Somatosensory), and jubilant psychedelic world-beat (In Solitude We Are Least Alone).

Honestly though, this concept of ‘death experiences’ isn’t iron-clad, at least compared to some of FSOL’s earlier concept albums (Lifeforms, Dead Cities). It’s nice they gave us something to latch onto if we’re so inclined, but as a collection of new The Future Sound Of London musics, it’s an enjoyable play-through regardless. Well, so long as you’re not still clinging to Papua New Guinea retreads. Let some of those prog rocks jams worm their way into your eternal being, guy.

The Orb - Orblivion

Island Records: 1997

Following the daring experimentation that marked The Orb’s prior few releases, Orblivion was thought of as a corny sell-out of an album when it first came out. Can't fault some folks for giving it that rep, Toxygene shamelessly whored out to every 'electronica' compilation it could find a footing on. The rest of it, I don't know. Yeah, the bold sonic indulgences from before were noticeably lacking (as was Kris Weston, because... reasons), but how could anyone think this LP a sell-out? Happy and even goofy at points, sure, but every Orb album had those moments, and they're thankfully far more tastefully handled here than on tracks like Slug Dub or More Gills Less Fishcakes. Additionally, have you people from 1997 heard the music that was to come from the Orb camps? Trust me, chaps, you've got it good with Orblivion. Enjoy this album’s Orbiousness for all its worth – you won’t get many chances after!

Also, what kind of commercial album paints as curious a world as this one? We’ve entered a warped place with Orblivion, where everything appears like 1950s suburban Pleasantville on the surface, but as seen through Koji Morimoto’s eyes of cyberpunk dystopia if you dig behind the facade. Immediately, we’re dumped into Delta MkII, a bizarre parade of jovial, twisted delights, giant stuffed animals in bright Disneyland colours wearing Mardi Gras costumes happily stomping by. Follow-up Ubiquity’s no less chipper with its trippy psychedelic sounds and bouncy rhythms, while Asylum goes groovy, shuffling breakbeats coupled with spritely floating melodies.

Orblivion’s scenery only gets quirkier from here. Bedouin feels like you’re perusing a white-washed museum of charming indigenous cultures, while outside with S.A.L.T., you find a wacky, cartoon man ranting about signs of the apocalypse and mankind’s ultimate evolution. For he (David Thewlis’ character Johnny from the ’93 movie Naked) sees all the signs, and recognizes the charade of modern-day creature comforts for what they are, barcodes for the markings of The Beast. Seriously, this tune’s build as Thewlis’ tirade continues is brilliant. Never before or since have had I heard such a poignant use of the phrase “Chernobyl. Fact!”

Then there’s Toxygene. It’s a stupid, obvious ‘intended-for–the-charts’ tune that tries to pass itself off as a throwback rave anthem with a bit of Orb giddiness. It’s also great! Just try resisting a little arm-wave action should you hear this out at some point. The rest of Orblivion carries on its cheerful-society-via-pharmaceuticals theme, though Passing Of Time hints at something more sinister lurking beneath (ya’ think?).

While Orblivion does retain many of The Orb’s eccentricities, the production comes off far more taught and focused compared to earlier efforts, likely the influence of Andy Hughes taking on more production duties. It does lend the album to poppier tendencies, but I feel that helps add to its overall atmosphere, creating a feeling of unease while immersed within an impossibly optimistic utopia. Head for the highway, back to the outlands while you can!

Various - FabricLive.31: The Glimmers

Fabric: 2006

*cover art brought to you by FabricLive's “ARTIST IN BIG FUCKING LETTERS” period*

The FabricLive series features quite a few acts I’m very familiar with. Due to the proliferation of breaks and jungle DJs, I’ve probably seen a good third of them, those scenes holding strong in various spots of the backdoors of British Columbia, especially so the Shambhala Music Festival. The 'party-in-the-mountains' boasts a vibrant jungle and breaks contingent, and were even early adopters of dubstep when that genre had barely begun its exodus from the UK. Plump DJs, Adam Freeland, Freestylers, Stanton Warriors, Diplo, Andy C, DJ Craze, A-Trak, Drop The Lime, and even all the way up to the latest (lambasted) FabricLive contributors Jack Beats, I’ve had the chance to check out live.

Then there’s a duo like The Glimmers. I’d never heard of these guys before, and upon reading their bio, I feel right stupid for not knowing them. Formerly the Glimmer Twins (re: Mick Jagger and Keith Richards nicknames), David Fouquaert and Mo Becha picked up the DJ trade nearly thirty years ago, playing out at Belgium clubs before raves were even a glint in the UK’s dilated eyes. Their accomplishments were relatively humble throughout the ‘90s, never seeking the spotlight but always in the mix of things within clubland, offering a funky, soulful alternative to rave’s blistering energy or eurodance’s camp. As their tracklists often contained unsung ‘80s hip-hop, rare dub reggae, and ‘70s French disco, some PR guy must have noticed how marketable such proper retro vibes were once such ‘anything goes’ mixtapey mixes grew in popularity at the turn of the century. Suddenly The Glimmers were releasing singles, LPs, DJ mixes (including one for DJ-Kicks a year prior to FabricLive.31 - how did I miss these guys!?), and receiving plenty of deserving spotlight.

Unsurprisingly for a duo influenced by the early days disco and glam, their set runs through plenty of tunes from names recognizable (Roxy Music, Freddie Mercury, Howie B.) to wacky obscure (Arpadys); from upfront disco funk (LCD Soundsystem Disco Infiltrator, their own Kobe’s In Columbia) to ancient oddities (psych-rock fuzz jam Pierre Henry); and we can’t forget those curious trainspotter’s classics either (George Kranz’ Din Daa Daa, The League Unlimited Orchestra’s Things That Dreams Are Made Of).

With all these eclectic tunes and genres, why The Glimmers must be DJ gods to make it all flow smoothly together! Ah, no, not really. Well over half these tracks are pre-‘90s, and as any DJ worth their needles will tell you, beatmatching records from those days is nothing but headaches. Instead, we get quick crossfades, intermittent ka-lumping phrasing, and songs that outright end with a half-breath of space before the next start. There’s just no simple way of segueing disco punk into reggae dub, is there.

Was This Worth The Pennies Paid For It?
I’m a sucker for mixtape sets unearthing the past as The Glimmers do here. Chalk up another steal for the money spent.

Beck - Mellow Gold

Bong Load Records: 1994

Now who the Hell is this guy all of a sudden, and what's with this hit single Loser? It's got a hip-hop beat going for it, and Beck's even rapping on it, but there's bluesy, country twang making up the hook. And his appearance on the back of Mellow Gold, that's grunge wear, me bucko. It just don't add up! Awesome song though. It also propelled Beck from an utterly unknown entity to overnight star, practically sustaining his wild and wonky musical career as a result.

Loser remains Mr. Hansen's top charting single, even though follow-up albums like Odelay and Sea Change were overall better selling LPs compared to Mellow Gold. Come to think of it, there weren't any other successful chart-topping singles off this album either. Uh oh, Beck's debut is one of those albums, isn't it - known for that one killer song, and a whole bunch of forgotten filler. Pft, if you honestly believe that, you don't know Beck. Still, for many folks out there coming to Mellow Gold looking for more sing-along anthems like Loser, they were in for a world of confuddlement.

Psychedelic blues is the main name of Beck's game on this album, with liberal amounts of rock, punk, folk, and electronic beat-craft rounding things out. If you're someone who admires song writing, ingenuity, musical skill, and the swagger to pull it all off on a freakin' debut, then Mellow Gold is definitely for you. Despite lacking anything else as immediately catchy as Loser, Beck's diversity of sound is catnip for those into bold music making. There's 'soaked-in-booze' lo-fi mourners like Pay No Mind, Whiskeyclone, Hotel 1967, and Steal My Body Home (hey, who put this acid in my bourbon?), upbeat funk on Beercan and Soul Sucking Jerk, noise freak-outs like Sweet Sunshine, Mutherfucker and secret-song Analog Odyssey, and sunny psychedelic folk-rock like Blackhole and Fuckin' With My Head. Yessir, there's a lot of different kind of music on Mellow Gold, for sure. Unfortunately, that's also its problem.

While this album's supposed to have a running theme of Los Angeles on the skids, it's rather obtuse under all his mumbly-singing. Besides, that's just the blues, man, but for all folks knew, it was also Beck's style, a modern-day blues-smith based out of the City Of Angels. Confounding things further is all the stylistic hopping he does, hobbling any album flow when playing Mellow Gold front to back. It comes off like Mr. Hansen had a ton of musical inspiration and, being the youthful cavalier he was, made any ol' tune that sprung forth from his mind. And if I'm struggling with this album in this regard, I can only imagine the poor folks who only bought it for Loser. Probably left his career in the rear-view mirror post-haste. Ooh, who’s this OMC?

Ah well, who cares about those people. Beck's endured for two decades now, despite never having a commercial success like Loser again. I'm sure he's perfectly happy how things turned out thusly.

The Future Sound Of London - Lifeforms (EP)

Astralwerks: 1994

Oh yeah, there was also a track called Lifeforms on Lifeforms, which became a single from Lifeforms. Fortunately, I can talk all about Lifeforms on this EP titled Lifeforms, so nothing was lost in bypassing Lifeforms on Lifeforms. This opening is funnier if you read-sing it like Data in Star Trek: Generations. “Lifeforms, you silly little lifeforms...”

Poor Virgin. They go and sign The Future Sound Of London, likely believing the duo a high prize in the early ‘electronica’ sweepstakes. With such a massive hit like Papua New Guinea to their credit, plus oodles more under other guises and remixes, surely the FSOL would put Virgin at the forefront of trendy club culture. Well, nuts to that, said Cobain and Dougans, they wanted to get all conceptual and shit for their major label debut. Fair enough, just make a couple singles available for Virgin to promote and- wait, FSOL are making the EPs themselves? But we had all these remixers planned already: one for the House Mix, one for the Progressive House mix, and one for the Techno Mix. Not even one for the Hardcore Mix? Dammit, FSOL, who do you think you are, artists?

Lifeforms (the track) was about as club-friendly as anything got on Lifeforms (the album ...ugh, this is getting confusing), so tapping it for single duty made sense. As the FSOL preferred turning their EPs into mini-albums in their own right, we’re offered seven different ‘paths’ taken on the Lifeforms idea. Beyond familiar nature sound effects, most of these paths bare scant resemblance to the album version (Path 3). Path 1, for instance, is mostly an ambient affair with water drums, droning industrial synths, and a chant that I don’t recall hearing in the album. Path 2, meanwhile, comes off more urgent and twitchy, throwing in different acoustic and wind instruments as a tense bassline bubbles and builds underneath – it rather sounds like an extended incidental moment from the album, and it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if that was the case.

Path 4 and Path 5 are the real highlights though. Both are refined takes on Life Form Ends (itself an alternate version of Lifeforms on Lifeforms), each exploring the expansive soundscapes FSOL enjoy indulging in, all the while excellent drum programming keeps things moving at a brisk pace. It’s the Papua New Guinea template taken to another level, if not in dancefloor effectiveness, then in conceptual execution (God, does that ever sound pretentious).

Path 6 serves as a minor interlude repeating sounds heard in the prior couple paths, and Path 7 bookends the EP with a similar tune to Path 1, but with more sounds and beats added from the other tracks. So a tidy conclusion to Lifeforms, the EP, and though not as varied as Lifeforms, the LP, it makes for a worthy companion piece. Kind of a closer study of some specific organisms you might have encountered while travelling the weird, wild world FSOL created with the album proper.

The Future Sound Of London - Lifeforms

Virgin Music: 1994

The Future Sound Of London always struck me as an odd group, and as I didn't come around to them until their Dead Cities period, I had some catching up to do. The club-friendly material off Accelerator was an easy introduction to the sounds they were capable of, but Lifeforms seemed daunting. A double-LP with nary a recognizable hit in the tracklist? Goodness, what's a young raver taking his first, tentative steps into this weird, wide electronic music world to do? I mean, this must be a good album, if all those old-schoolers are loving it, though they don't talk of it as much as Papua New Guinea or We Have Explosives. Still, really cool looking cover art...

So yeah, Lifeforms was the last of the First Three FSOL albums I picked up, but it wasn’t that long after getting the other two; thus, I’ve had plenty of time to listen, re-listen, analyze, contemplate, and understand Dougans and Cobain’s weird ambient opus. I’m still working on that. For that matter, who isn’t? I wouldn’t go so far as to say Lifeforms is a hopelessly complex piece of abstract music, as the basic concept is straight-forward enough: raid all the nature sample libraries, mesh it with ambient house and trip-hop of the day, take a ton of drugs [citation needed], and see what springs forth from the muse.

Even that doesn’t seem too far removed from what The Orb was doing, but whereas Dr. Patterson had a playfully chill outlook to his music, FSOL have larger ideas on mind. I honestly don’t know if this was their intent, but the concept in Lifeforms I’ve gleaned over the years is each disc tells a different story of evolution: CD1 the primordial growth to complex organisms, CD2 the arrival of higher intelligence and future-shock technology.

I’m risking turning this review into a graduate thesis, so I’ll make my explanation brief. Aside from the interlude Bird Wings, disc one typically has natural sounds running through it: gentle washing pianos, tribal drums, bells, un-manipulated chants and animal calls. The clincher, however, is the benign nature of the music on this first half. Lovely melodies in Cascade, haunting synths in Ill Flower and Dead Skin Cells, and even a sense of innocent playfulness in Flak and Among Myselves. The Garden of Eden is a wonderful place to be.

Not so in disc two. As almost a parody of advancing intellect, FSOL open with a brief, ominous version of Pachelbel’s Canon and Gigue in D Major. From there, harsh bleeps emerge in Spineless Jelly, and we’re on our way into a dystopian outlook of nature for the duration. True, there are lovely moments still found (Omnipresence, Elaborate Burn), but always coupled with aggressive electronics. We’re a far cry from the tranquility of CD1.

It makes Lifeforms no less captivating, even if many of the interludes are just effects wibble. Check it out, and discover what weird things come to your mind.

Various - Life: Styles - Coldcut

Harmless: 2004

It's a shame the Life: Styles series didn't last long. There was a clever idea going for it among all the other 'electronic producers show off their record collections' market, in that it featured personally influential songs that weren't specifically themed (afterhours, chill-out, early crate exposures). Right, mixtape action then. That’s fine, but apparently not much of interest in the overstuffed compilation market of the '00s. And now that online playlists, mixtapes, and podcasts offer much of the same, CDs like Life: Styles are all but good as dead. Damn it, I was kinda hoping to find more of these someday.

If their tracklists are anything to go by, they'd make for handy bluffer's guides to funk, soul, jazz, and '70s curiosities. Coldcut are no exception, though as the duo from Ninja Tune had a raging hard-on for all things break-beat orientated, you can expect some interesting funk choices for their contribution to Life: Styles. For instance, More and Black claim they picked up Betty Harris' There's A Break In The Road for the sole reason of the title. Yep, in their never-ending pursuit of new 'breaks' to sample and use in their DJing, they went into a slice of soul-jazz blind, thinking a fresh drum solo could be found within. Boy, have I ever done that kind of shopping before, though almost entirely based on covers rather than titles.

There’s about eight other funky tunes on here, though likely only the last two will be immediately familiar to most (The Temptations’ Power and Otis Clay’s The Only Way Is Up). I’m more interested in the funk-fusion numbers, like Chowen Few’s Do Your Thing (reggae!) and The Galylads’ Soul Sister (um, soul?), but they’re all cool tunes regardless.

There’s also quite a bit of French connection music on offer too. Richard de Bordeaux & Daniel Beretta drum up some psychedelic francophone rock in La Drogue (he, he, I think they said “hashish”), Axel Krygier goes down the trip-hop road in Taxi Nocturno (yeah, it’s not all old musics here), and early jazz ‘n electronics dabbler Bernard Estardy shows up under his La Formule Du Baron guise, though La Gigouille’s a straight-up funk jam in this case.

And now for the oddities! Well, okay, T La Rock & Jazzy Jay’s It’s Yours isn’t odd in the slightest, but the Def Jam classic sure stands out as odd in a compilation filled with music other than hip-hop – guess Coldcut wanted to show the ‘breaks’ connection? The track preceding it, Cornershop’s The Easy Winners, is certainly an odd one, a sort of future electro-funk offering from what Lord Discogs claims to be an indie rock band. Ah, they bandwagon jumped during the ‘electronica’ boom, didn’t they. But no, the real highlight for goofy nonsense is none other than Archie Bleyer’s Hernandoz Hideaway, something of a minor hit in the mid-‘50s, and all tango-camp. I guarantee once you hear that hook (even in sampled form), you’ll have it stuck there forever after.

Various - LateNightTales: Fatboy Slim

LateNightTales: 2007

This was a release I was supposed to review at TranceCritic, but totally flaked on because I had no idea how to approach it. For one thing, I knew very little about LateNightTales, other than it was yet another compilation series dedicated to showcasing the esoteric tastes of musicians and DJs. Fair enough, but with Back To Mine, Choice, DJ-Kicks (sometimes), and who knows what else doing the same thing, I had difficulty drumming up interest in this one. Second of all, the music contained within is very, very, very un-electronic, and for a website that already frequently skewed away from its main focus (trance!), going that far off our beaten path probably wasn't wise (or just bad for traffic). So now that I'm writing on a blog dedicated to all electronic music, but often skew towards heavy metal, prog rock, and even country (but not Western – I do have standards here), finally tackling Fatboy Slim's contribution to LateNightTales just be honky-dory.

I don't know if it's a running theme with this series, but Monsieur Normane Cookie opted for something akin to a mixtape here. He even goes at length in the liner notes about the lost art of the craft, which strikes me as odd even for 2007. I'll grant all the kiddie-Joes out there likely don't care much about it, but almost every music connoisseur I know of appreciates the concept of mixtaping, if not the practical application of it.

And as this is a mixtape mix, there’s hardly any mixing at all; mostly quick blending as a song ends and another begins, if even that. Frankly, I doubt anyone could reasonably mix this music anyway. It opens with a bunch of sunny, psychedelic rock by the likes of Nick Lowe, Mink de Ville, and The Modern Lovers that screams ‘70s, only to follow it up with a run of obscure funk, soul, and reggae of the same era. Oh yeah, Fatboy Slim’s penchant for fun-time music’s in full effect here, and as a bloke who’s undoubtedly gathered tons of vinyl in his time, Mr. Cook’s gonna give us one heck of a history lesson on this stuff.

Since this is such old music meant for singles and radio play, they all breeze by in a hurry, no track exceeding four minutes. There are a few recognizable names in the back half (Willie Nelson, The Velvet Underground, Taj Mahal, Sly & The Family Stone), often rubbing shoulders with utter unknowns like ‘60s r&b outfit The Sandpebbles and calypso singer (plus actor) Robert Mitchum. And of course there’s cute novelty bits like Vince Guaraldi Trio’s Linus And Lucy (yes, from those Peanuts cartoons), Fatboy Slim doing a Senor Coconut-ish cover of Kraftwerk’s Radioactivity (!!), and ending everything with some poetry as recited by Bootsy Collins (!!?).

So an entertaining CD, all said, though not the most essential. If you don’t mind taking a stroll down music roads less travelled, this volume of LateNightTales is a handy soundtrack.

Squarepusher - Just A Souvenir

Warp Records: 2008

You have to feel a bit sorry for all those pioneering IDM wonks from the '90s. They set the bar of ingenuity so bloody high in such a short period of time, that the expectation for them to continuously keep topping themselves would eventually be a futile effort. Not that they would feel the pressure to do so, of course, but some creativity burn-out would have to set in if they didn't explore other music for a while. So while some weren't too keen on Tom Jenkinson taking his Squarepusher guise closer to proper jazz-fusion realms (real instruments, what!?), in the long run it was probably for the best, letting him recharge before his braindance stuff wore itself out.

Still, he’d done his ‘jazz album’ with Music Is Rotted One Note, so even that could be expected of him, especially a full decade following it (ten year celebration! ...or is this just a coincidence?). So how about rock fusion then? Surely ol’ Tom could list several psychedelic and garage-fuzz jam works as inspiration too (much of it came out around the same time as Miles Davis’ peak). Yeah, sure, whatever, you’ve earned your right for musical self-indulgence, Mr. Jenkinson, by all means show us what you got in your one-man band cadre.

Well, not right away, it turns out on Just A Souvenir. The first few tracks are on more familiar ground, like the spritely space-funk works Star Time 2 and The Coathanger, while A Real Woman sounds more like what those late-‘70s avant garde French acts would kick out. Complete with vocoders? I’m sold! Shame the whole album isn’t like this, but the rest is good fun too, provided you have an ear for odd-ball jam-fusion music.

And you know it’s gonna be one of those when you hear that tell-tale tik-tik-tik of drum sticks at the opening. Then bass, guitar, drums, and occasional keyboards go at it, like some kind of demented punk outfit from a far-flung European province while wacked-out on acid. Though it’s just Squarepusher doing the music, you can almost imagine a three or four piece band giving their all on stage or in a garage. Considering there’s but one chap making all this racket, the music’s impressive enough that it sounds like there should be more there.

Yet, there’s something missing from Just A Souvenir that completes the illusion: it’s too tight. I’d imagine if this really was some long-lost psychedelic punk-jam band from the ‘70s, the music would come off even sloppier, wonderfully so; like the band members had all the inspiration in the world, but not quite the skill to pull it off, and you’d admire their gumption, if nothing else. As a musician and producer, Tom Jenkinson’s better than that, which has given him the chance to explore such diverse sonic avenues, but not the expertise to fully integrate into them. In the end, we all know what his bread-and-butter be, but thanks for the souvenir just the same.

The Irresistible Force - It's Tomorrow Already

Ninja Tune: 1998

I sure got this album in an ass-backwards way. The two singles off here, Nepalese Bliss and Fish Dances, found homes in my racks far sooner, for no better reason than I saw them on store shelves at lower prices than other CDs. And hey, Irresistible Force! He’s a guy I’m pretty sure I like, based on the few old ambient tunes I’d stumbled upon. Not enough to get a proper album from him though, until much later. Guess there was some fear a full LP of Mixmaster Morris noodly psychedelic ambient would grow tedious; plus material from Rising High's rather hard to come by these days at any reasonable price.

Fortunately for It's Tomorrow Already, Ninja Tune's doesn’t appear ready to fold anytime soon, so nabbing a copy of this album isn't hard. As such, it hasn't garnered the same level of 'specialness' in the ambient scene as Morris' early work, but seeing as it remains his final full-length, it should. Even better, compared to Flying High and Global Chillage, it shows musical growth, more emphasis on song-craft than soundscapes.

Mind, I use the term ‘song-craft’ rather loosely, as instead of lengthy ambient wibble, Mixmaster Force opted for something closer to jazz (must be that Ninja Tune influence). So there's structure in these tracks, but still lots of room for psychedelic improvisation. It's an interesting blend, one that you don't hear much of, if at all – truthfully, I haven't come across anything that quite sounds like It's Tomorrow Already, though as its style is quite rooted in the '90s (oh so trip-hop, mang), I wouldn't count on anyone style-biting it soon either.

Since I’ve already sort of talked about tracks like Fish Dances, Power, and Playing Around With Sound, and will be talking even more about Nepalese Bliss down the road (like, a year at best), here’s some details regarding the other tunes on here. The Lie-In King: pure mushroom bliss with gentle keyboards, soft rhythms, flutes, running water – complete chill tent fodder. Oh yeah, in case you weren’t aware of it, The Irresistible Morris is a total goddamn hippie, bless ‘em. 12 O’Clock is almost the chill-out version of Nepalese Bliss, which is weird hearing since it’s sequenced after the other, like the comedown part after indulging in that Nepalese bliss (what did you think it was?). Another Tomorrow’s after that, and is just as blissy as anything else on here (have I said ‘bliss’ enough yet?), floating on burbly acid, sitars, xylophones, and strings. And the titular closer feels more like a straight-up Ninja Tune jam, though high in cloud nine compared to most other street funk offerings from the label.

It’s Tomorrow Already isn’t a critical album to own, but if you’ve yet to dig much into ‘90s downtempo, it’s a safe enough purchase to get your feet wet with. His early work is more genre-defining (helped to be among the first chill tent chaps), but this one’s a worthy addition to Morris’ scant discography.

Beastie Boy - Hello Nasty

Capitol Records: 1998

I don't think anyone anticipated the Beastie Boys having such big hits as those spawned off Hello Nasty. A fun single or two, sure, but surely their schtick was utterly dated as the '90s drew to a close. Three MCs, rhyming off each other's interplay like Run DMC was still relevant (okay, they were still around, but y'know what I mean), a bunch of wicki-wicki-waa from an actual DJ, and who ever really liked their rock and funk explorations anyway? No, the Beasties should have failed, unable to keep pace with hip-hop's over-indulgence of gangsta shenanigans and seeking the bling life. Or worse, in an attempt to reconnect with the youth, adopted nu-metal into their repertoire.

Holy hell, is it ever a good thing they didn’t give two flute loops about what contemporary audiences expected of them and simply cut loose with what they do best. If there’s any scene they did get chummy with, it was the electronic one, which had shared history with the Beastie’s brand of b-boy bombast (weren't The KLF initially just the Scottish Beasties anyway?). The lead single Intergalactic was the perfect olive branch to ravers worldwide, with big beats, quirky electro sounds, and enough ‘up to date’ retro vibes that any DJ could drop it and get a massive reaction. Small wonder Lord Discogs recommends names like Daft Punk, DJ Shadow, and Mr. Oizo on Intergalactic's page.

Oh yeah, there's a whole album more to talk about with Hello Nasty. I'm sure ya'll remember Body Movin', probably thanks to yet another goof-ball video the Boys were masters at. A third single off here was Three MCs and One DJ, which had the trio feeding off numerous scratch samples and turntable trickery from Mixmaster Mike (sort of an honorary fourth Beastie Boy). Quite a few tracks on here do this, to be honest, though more often than not it's post-studio production creating the dense sound collages of off-beat samples, thick rhythms, and indie rock leanings.

As for the rest of the album, well... Okay, there's a reason most only remember Hello Nasty for Intergalactic, Body Movin', and not much else: too much filler. Oh, it's good filler, in that you won't find yourself itching for the skip button if you're willing to take the album in full, but can any of you recall how Picture This or Flowin' Prose go? I sure can't, and I just listened to the damned album! Maybe it was one of those instrumental, psychedelic funk jams?

Despite a second half that just can't live up to the first (how could anything with such a one-two punch as Body Movin' and Intergalactic?), Hello Nasty's still a high recommendation for those diving into the Beastie Boys' discography. It may not be as ground breaking as Paul's Boutique or as stupid-fun as Licenced To Ill, but it reaches a comfortable middle-ground between the two, and propelled the Boys back to the front of hip-hop relevancy. Not bad for three white former punks.

Gorillaz - Gorillaz

EMI Music Canada: 2001

While we're still on the subject of Del, let's talk about the project that propelled him from underground darling to crossover star ...kind of. While Gorillaz had been in developmental stages between co-creators Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett for a few years, it wasn't until Albarn teamed up with Dan The Automator and Del during the Deltron 3030 sessions that a pair of proper tunes were cut as lead singles. And hoo, what a kick-off it was, Clint Eastwood becoming one of the biggest tunes of 2001. In fact, Gorillaz never topped it, though some will argue Feel Good Inc. from Demon Days was a stronger song as far as Gorillaz hits are concerned. Still, Gorillaz was Albarn’s baby, yet despite Del’s involvement being rendered to something of a footnote in the cartoon band’s long history of guest collaborations, his raps remain the most iconic of them. Not bad for portraying a ghost in the Gorillaz’ quirky, fictional history.

That cartoon mythology is what’s enabled Gorillaz to endure in the public consciousness for over a decade now. While Albarn and Hewlett had a definite motivation in the group’s creation (“Fuck the charts, let’s make anti-pop ‘pop’ music!” …something like that), it eventually turned into an indulgent exercise in mainstream music exploration. It’s difficult to pin the group down to a tidy genre, because Albarn enjoyed the freedom such a project offered. That said, lo-fi hip-hop splashed with punk attitude is as best a starting point as one can hope for.

For a ‘group’ that’s been portrayed as very rock orientated (or at least would be if band-leader Murdoc had his way more often), Gorillaz can be startling upon first listen due to the lack of it. Only Punk is about as straight-forward rock as this album gets, with 5/4 adding chiptune-bleeps and fuzzy bass distortion, and M1 A1’s long, paranoid build-up hiding the song’s typical Albarn rock-anthem climax. There are hints of it here and there, but melded with trippy psychedelia and hip-hop beats so often, you’d think this was a proper Dan The Automator album rather him just being a supporting producer. Perhaps ol’ Damon wasn’t confident with this style of music yet, allowing Dan to dictate much of the album’s direction.

The music’s wonderfully diverse, and so is the tone. Melancholic musers like Starshine and Tomorrow Comes Today offer one end of the spectrum; at the other, upbeat party tunes like Rock The House, Latin Simone (ooh, love that shuffling rhythm!), and summery bubble-gum pop of 19-2000. And while the hit Clint Eastwood is immediate, other subtle tunes like New Genious, Man Research and Double Bass show album filler can be just as intriguing. And how does one classify the cinematic Sound Check? Ace, is how!

All said and done Gorillaz has held up incredibly well for a project that likely started as little more than a flight of fancy. Or maybe nostalgic memories of playing this alongside its stylistic-sibling Dreamcast game, Jet Set Radio, are clouding my judgement. Nah.

The Dust Brothers - Fight Club

Restless Records: 1999

Fight Club was an incredibly bold movie at the time, highly divisive in what audiences got out of it. Still, whether you agreed with its Gen-X rebellion manifesto or not, you couldn't deny its tight scripting and strong acting – not to mention such a shocking twist as *spoiler* Meat Loaf dying. Another positive consensus was a thumbs-up for the soundtrack, produced by studio wizards The Dust Brothers.

Simpson and King had quite the esteemed discography by the end of the '90s: Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique, Beck's Odelay, countless remixes and one-offs, plus some boy-band thing. Having accomplished so much in the field of regular ol' music, the duo must have been itching to stretch their creativity elsewhere. Enter David Fincher, a long time admirer of their work and in need of someone to score his new, edgy movie.

Regardless of fanboyism, The Dust Brothers were an excellent choice, being something of a staple of ‘90s music one way or the other. If the movie was to deconstruct that decade’s idealism, why not have the duo responsible for some of the all time classics of the era contribute as well? Plus, having an original score of electronic music was just the hip thing to do by that point. So sayeth The Lola, anyway.

Fight Club being a dark comedy and paranoid thriller (not to mention spiffy special effects showcase, like at the end when *spoiler* all the bombs go off) most of the music reflects that tone. Though a few light-hearted bits crop up (the Casio-samba of Corporate World, for instance), dark brooding passages make up the bulk of the tracks. Occasionally dusty trip-hop beats and psychedelic rock sampling break up the monotony, but for the most part we’re dealing with total score stuff.

Still, the movie had its share of pulse-pounding moments, and The Dust Brothers come correct on this front when called upon. Finding The Bomb doesn’t hold back on ramping the tension up as it plays out, while Stealing Fat has all the hallmarks of a mad capper going down. Incidentally, that track’s also where the kick-ass opening credit music lurks, which handily points out one of the unique things about this soundtrack.

Most original score albums will sequence the music as it was featured in the film, as a means of emulating the movie’s narrative. Not so with Fight Club. Bits are lumped together under titles that have little context to what was going down on screen, and the whole thing plays out more like a proper album of Dust Brothers music than a soundtrack. The duo insists it’s not be taken as such, but if they’re adamant about it, why arrange this CD this way? Label interference?

Whatever the case, Fight Club works exceptionally well as a standalone, but having visual context does add to the experience. Like when it’s revealed at the end of the movie that *spoiler*, those really were Marla’s clothes she was selling!

Various - Excursions In Ambience

Caroline Records: 1993

Excursions In Ambience was put together by Caroline Record, an American label that grew in prominence during the '80s as an outlet for indie-leaning rock of the punk, new wave, and industrial persuasion. Though they occasionally released groups that dabbled in electronic music, there was nothing to suggest they'd go full-bore with the genre; except, that is, Steve Hillage was signed to the label. Thus, when he released his System 7 material, Caroline handled his distribution (as 777 due to a legal hiccup in the States). Someone must have noticed Hillage getting chummy with several 'ambient-house' acts overseas and, sensing the trend, started up this series. With acts like Suicidal Tendencies and Alien Sex Fiend more to the Caroline faithful’s tastes, I can’t see them reacting positively to such a CD. Just as well, then, the series migrated over to the new Astralwerks after the first volume (both labels are owned by EMI/Virgin/Universal/Illuminati/etc.).

Well, that was a fun bit of history. Is the music worth that backstory? You bet! Interest in ambient house/techno/dub/hardcore still had momentum in '93, and the roster reflects the eclecticism the genre was capable of.

Many of the heavy hitters of that scene are present. Obviously, System 7 shows up, care of a remix of Miracle by The Orb, though re-titled Mia (The Fisherman Mix). Weird, and so is the track, but then it's The Orb, starting on the experimental stage of their career. Less 'out there' is The Future Sound Of London’s bleep-house cut Calcium and the rare, spacey Black Hole Mix of The Higher Intelligence Agency’s Solid Motion, itself about as bleepy as you’d expect of Bobby Bird.

Still, the weird, psychedelic stuff tends to dominate this CD. Tranquility Bass’ Mya Yadana seems a mish-mash of world beat and bubbly acid-dub, but we’ll go even deeper into the acid-bubble with Tarenah from Psychedelic Reasearch Lab (an oldie side-project pair-up of John Selway and Scott Richmond). More subdued is Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia’s Obsidian, almost meditative the way it quietly adds layers of acid, percussion, and vocal samples to a gentle bell hook.

Speaking of gaias, Banco de Gaia’s on here too, with an exclusive mix of his tune Desert Wind. It’s far more upbeat than other versions, almost house really, but aside from some mint bass drops at the end, not all that memorable. And while we’re speaking of exclusives, Ultramarine provides an Upbeat Mix (yes, that’s the name) of its own for Saratoga. Kinda hard to pin this one down though, as there’s acid, funky licks... it’s almost deep house, of that early ‘90s European style. Y’know, almost Balearic. And if we’re to end off on a Balearic vibe, what perfect way than Sub Sub’s Past?

If the point hasn’t been made clear enough, Excursions In Ambience is a gem of a little compilation, providing ample variety while maintaining its theme. These may not all be classics on here, but they deserve the attention of your ears.

5 Song Weekly Mini-Review #10

Woo’ee! Number ten of these things, eh? I’d feel like celebrating somehow, ‘cept this bloody flu I caught has gotten me all stuffed up in the head (or numbed up with the meds). I think I may be able to come up with something next week tho’. Also, since my finances are stable once again, it’s about time I start getting some new music to review. Expect to see a few fresh releases in the coming weeks (er, that weren’t free label compilations). Meanwhile, let’s see what random songs from my current collection will spring up this week.


1. Groove Armada - At The River
From the album Vertigo.

Their first single, for the record. It took a bit of a roundabout route to be re-released with their sophomore album above, riding the coattails of the big-beat phenomenon. It’s very laid back and sampledelic, a perfect summertime record, hinting at the potential everyone saw in the duo before the backlash of endlessly hearing I See You Baby soured everyone’s attitude towards them. At least, that’s what happened over on this side of the pond. I think they’re still big stars in the UK, and lord knows the tune continues to get recycled on “Best Chill-Out Ever” compilations from Ministry Of Sound.


2. The Orb - More Gills Less Fishcakes
From the album Pomme Fritz.

This was around the time Dr. Patterson was getting more experimental than many were willing to indulge. More of an EP of the title track, More Gills is one of the noodly sonic masturbation cuts, where dub tricks, tape splicing, and sample pieces cut in and out. Some semblance of a proper tune emerges in the middle, but it’s a garbled mess for the most part. I can’t think of enough weed to make this a worthwhile listen.


3. Subreachers - Memories Of Better Times
From the compilation Echodub Loves, Vol. 2.

I just reviewed this last week! Do I really have to talk about it again so soon? Um, well, the piano tones are still pleasant enough.


4. Astral Projection - Liquid Sun
From a personal compilation.

I think Astral Projection were one of the first groups to realize giving away free MP3s was very beneficial to one’s career. Way back in the MP3.com days, you could download a whole bunch of their tunes at no cost, and without having to go through dodgy back channels like Napster or Audio Galaxy. Or, wait… did I get their tunes off Audio Galaxy after all? Man, that was so long ago, I can’t remember. I think it was MP3.com I found this. I’m pretty sure a lot of other folks did too, hence their dedicated fanbase all these years later. This? Ah, typical mid-90s soaring goa trance. Mint, if you’re into that stuff. I like it.


5. Banco de Gaia - Shanti (Red With White Spots Edit)
From the album Maya.

Wow, must be a psychedelic week, huh? This isn’t as good as the Black Mountain Mix, but still pretty cool if you like noodly, dubby, experimental stuff. The core elements are lovely as ever. You can definitely hear The Orb influences though, but then The Orb had influenced tons of ambient house and dub producers in the early 90s. Which I guess makes that group’s dive into experimental wank like the track above around the same time all the more understandable.


That was a tidy little Mini-Review, I must say. Nothing too out of the ordinary, thematically consistent… I could probably even make a mini-mix out of those tracks were I so inclined. Hm, it has been a while since I did a mixtape, now that I think about it…


Written by Sykonee, 2010. © All rights reserved.