WARNING: If you're one of those people that doesn't want to read
about jungle and breaks on the IDM list, kill this article now
rather than flaming me. I bring this disk up for discussion because
there is some hype about this record being 'intelligent' jungle,
which, if it is the case, is worth consideration on IDM.
Still with me? OK.
I have been following the jungle/drum&bass whatever thing now for
about a year, and it has been a real trial. I've bought and
sold back the two Jungle Comps that came out last year (History
of our World, Law of the Jungle) because they seemed to, well, suck
rocks hard.
The thing about it is that there is a lot to love about jungle: it is
fast, wild, fragmented, and funky. At it's best it's a real roller
coast ride.
There is also a lot to hate about jungle: formulaic production, lo-fi
production, annoying diva wails, and sound so chopped up and
fragmentary as to be aimless.
The Omni Trio comes billed as the best of breed. Is it? Well I have
mixed feelings. I played drop the needle (if this is the right
expression with a CD) with a friend this weekend and it didn't sound
that great -- if you just skip around randomly, everything about
jungle that's annoying is there in spades.
But since I blew 15 buck on it I've been giving it another chance.
And I think that there are cuts on this that warrent some close
listening. "Shadowplay" has the piano thing going, and the diva, but
it has a nice melody that comes in and out, and at the end you feel
as though you've gone somewhere. The annoying thing about divas
is if they never shut up. In this song she's down in the mix,
and the repetition of the same sample over the chorus works -- it
becomes a sound that you hear as an another instrument in the fix
rather than someone singing.
I also like the jazzy progression in 'Living for the Future', though
the intro voice may put you off for starters.
All through this record there are patches of very careful, subtle
breaks. But often they are surrounded by little pastiche melodies of
the sort that irritate the fuck out of you in shit techno.
So what's the verdict? I dunno. If you like jungle in general, this
record is a cut above most of the genre, but it hasn't totally broken
the straightjacket of the style; when they do there are patches
of pure glory. If jungle mostly just irritates you, then you should
save your sheckels for something else.
As an intro to the genre, you could do worse, but perhaps you could
do better as well -- I like 'Jungle Tekno 4' quite a bit, and it
covers a pretty broad territory.
--
kent.williams@cadsi.com -- All views expressed are.
Newt Gingrich -- What Barney the Dinosaur would look like
if he tried to fit into a Phil Donahue full-body costume.