Here are some quick reviews of a couple of recent acquisitions,
more on the way soon.
Scala - Compass Heart
I'm really like Seefeel. I like Scala enough to keep buying their releases.
This one is alot like 'Beauty Nowhere' all over again-- as the cover would seem
to indicate, as the two releases share the same style/fonts/general color
scheme in packaging.
Half the tracks are instrumental, half are not. Mark Van Hoen (Locust) gets
co-writer credit on all. Interesting- since Sarah Peacock is not involved with
the instrumental tracks, they (6 of them, I think) are a kind of sequel to the
Aurobindo release that came out a couple of years back. Musically they're alot
like the instrumental tracks on 'First Light', some interesting, some good,
some unmemorable.
The noninstrumental tracks are generally good, but the only ones that stood out
as more than that are the first, which hearkens back a bit to 'Time To Find
You', and another.. I think it's 'Happy In Her Skin'. Whatever the title, it's
a re-recording of a track from 'Beauty Nowhere'- which isn't that surprising as
'Beauty Nowhere' was I think a collection of demos and sketches, a warmup for a
proper Scala release. Here the track is fleshed out a bit, amounting to a
'First Light' style light drum-n-bass mix.
Solid release for Scala- it's great to see these three still making music
together. (Justin Fletcher is not credited on the release at all, and
incidentally was replaced by a new live drummer when Seefeel performed at Blech
last October.)
I think part of the appeal is that it keeps hope alive for a *recorded* Seefeel
reunion. Warp: Any news on Mark Clifford, or any reunion recording plans? I ask
because the last I heard (after last October's Blech show) they had performed
three new tracks (which Mark thought were better than 'the old stuff'), had no
deal to record them, but Mark was hoping for a deal. At what stage did these
good intention fail? Please enlighten us!
In the meantime, if any one out there has a copy of said live performance, and
is seeking ways to perform random acts of kindness, please e-mail me, I can
help.
More Rockers - Selection 2
I got the Smith & Mighty DJ Kicks CD a couple of months ago and was really
pleasantly surprised. In addition to some great vintage Smith & Mighty, there
were a number of very interesting drum-n-bass tracks thrown in. Generally with
reggae/dub underpinnings and in many cases great vocals. Which is where it's at
for me- I like alot of different kind of drum-n-bass, but my favorite are the
tracks that recognize the dub foundation of it all.
The stuff was good- it was really easy to listen to, really grooved, but
without sacrificing certain fundamentals of production quality and sound
choice. Which is what the word intelligent means to me re: music.. the More
Rockers have that.
So when this title came up on a preorders list I jumped at it. It's exactly
what I was hoping for, the tracks I liked from the DJ Kicks CD and many more
besides. It also enlightened me to the fact that More Rockers is an offshoot of
Smith & Mighty, involving some of the same personnel.. that explains a thing or
two, mainly the high quality of the music.
If you like myself you would not be adverse to the following
- very few instances of that tired, chunky amen break
(I think there are couple, but they're subtle, used along
with other breaks)
- no diva vocals- but some soulful vocals, and some reggae-
style vocals.
- no drill-n-bass
- dubby
- with positivity
then I urge you to own this disc.
I'm sure those of you in the know already have lots of this stuff on vinyl- but
I've never heard them spoken of on this list. If it's not because of obscurity,
but rather because of preconceptions about what constitutes IDM and what
doesn't, then in this case we're off mark.
Again IMO- this stuff doesn't "just" groove- it really is well produced and
well programmed. Works fine in the armchair, on the road, or at the office. On
the other hand, there are a couple of tracks on here that are completely off
the scale, bombastic, energetic, fit for dancing like a mad fool. Check track
3, let it play as the intro builds, turn the volume up, and let the beat drop
at 1:21.
- Brad