• Прощай, 2006

    Jan 20 2007, 16h35 por liilliil

    Что же запомнилось из мира музыки в прошлом году?

    Безусловно, это 60-ти летие David Gilmour'a, с которым он себя поздравил, выпустив On An Island, занявший первое место в топе. Потрясающее достижение, потрясающий альбом, молодец, Дейв.

    Кроме того, 64-летие отметил Paul McCartney, большой поклонник двоичной логики. Жаль, конечно, что он связался с этой шмарой (как её зовут, кстати?), потому что с самого начала понятно было, чем это закончится.

    Кроме дня рождения Дейва, кратковременно собиравшийся в 2005 Pink Floyd, в былые годы о котором было почти ничего не слышно, снова ожил и напомнил о себе потрясающим концертом на Красной площади, который дал Roger Waters. Вот уж не ожидал никогда увидеть The Dark Side Of The Moon живьём. Я думал эта вещь навсегда осталась в 70х. Безусловно, хотелось бы увидеть это ещё раз.

    И, безусловно, самое грустное событие года: умер человек, который Pink Floyd и вытащил в люди — Syd Barrett, последние годы тихий пенсионер, живший на гонорары от музыки, написанной когда ему было едва ли 20 лет.

    Совсем тихо ушёл из жизни Arthur Lee, лидер легендарных Love, в августе.

    Из посетивших Москву гастролёров поразил своим отвращением к происходящему Jamiroquai: обеьянка явно устала каждый вечер исполнять одни и те же трюки.

    James Lavelle якобы забыл диски на Ибице, поэтому 22 июля на Camel Freemotion и играл скучнейший хаус. У меня есть мнение, что диски-то он как раз и не забыл, поэтому и получилось ибицкая хуйня.

    Но больше всех порадовали The Crystal Method, которые вместо планируемого фестиваля в Механике выступили на частной вечерине в 16 тоннах (поганый кабак). Заявленный Mixmaster Mike либо не приехал, либо просто не стал выступать.

    Также разочаровали Coldcut. Во-первых появившись в промо-роликах MS Zune, а также концертом в Икре. Хотя, не столько разочаровали, сколько сделали именно то, что и ожидал. Не больше. Ни меньше. Не знаю, стоит ли отдельного упоминания вышедший в 2006 Sound Mirrors, наверное всё-таки стоит, из-за TocarA Whistle And A Prayer. Время Let Us Play, который я слушал часами под шум прибоя, безвозвратно утекло.

    А как сложился музыкальный 2006 у вас?
  • Flashback Review - 1998: Various Artists - Ninja Cuts 3 "Funkungfusion"

    Fev 23 2006, 4h24 por Fidgital

    This week, I thought I'd do some flashbacks to records which profoundly influenced my own music career. Especially looking at the late '90's, immediately prior to forming Fidgital in 1999.

    It's early 1998. I've become a big Coldcut fan, immensely turned on by the "Fuck dance, let's art!" esthetic of their 1997 album, Let Us Play (which should have its own flashback review). I know they run Ninja Tune but I haven't delved too deeply yet. Enter Funkungfusion, a stlyishly packaged double disc set for the irresistible price of $11.

    So even before listening, I ponder the title. Is it "Funk & Fusion"? Is it "Fun Kung-Fu"? Is it "Fun Confusion"? Yes, yes, yes, all these things. The liner calls it "a phasechange at the edges of hip hop, techno, jazz and outrock."

    So I put it on. Immediately I'm hit with Chocolate Weasel's wild 5/4 electro TocarMusic for Body Lockers. Then a double hit of Amon Tobin, showing off both his dark spastic cinematic drum & bass, plus his sinister velvet downtempo jazz-hop. Only 15 minutes in and I know this may be the best compilation record I've ever heard.

    The end of the '90's was a rich time for the Ninjas. They were transitioning from the later-copied-by-everybody trip hop sounds of their early releases, but not quite into dichotemy they fell into in the very early 2000's, where everything seemed to be either deep modal jazz or underground hip hop. In 1998, Ma Ninja was playing with every sound and doing things no other label had done before (at least not with the semi-commercial success enjoyed by the Ninjas). We weren't quite to the stage where their tunes were on half the car ads on TV. Actually, I believe Mr. Scruff makes his Ninja debut on this compilation.

    So who do we have? Kid Koala with Money Mark, Luke Vibert, Roots Manuva, DJ Vadim, Up, Bustle & Out, Cabbageboy (AKA Si Begg), Neotropic, J. Swinscoe (soon to found The Cinematic Orchestra), DJ Food, The Irresistible Force, Burnt Friedman, and the legendary Ryuichi Sakamoto. Plus double hits from The Herbaliser, Funki Porcini and The Clifford Gilberto Rhythm Combination. And even more.

    High points include Mr. Scruff's hilarious Ninja debut TocarFish and The Prunes epic (if you can do epic in under 5 minutes) symphonic hip hop remix of TocarTheme From Conquest of the Irrational. Goateee (Part 1) clearly shows the path to The Cinematic Orchestra, even featuring Tom chant on sax. The original version of TocarThe Crow contained here is superior to the version on Kaleidoscope, again foreshadowing how PC would eventually become part of The Cinematic Orchestra. TocarI Wish I Was A Motown Star might be considered "smooth jazz" were it not for its Squarepusher-influenced nu-jazz drill & bass production.

    A seeming one hit wonder, TocarPAC 3 is some of the best drum & bass I have in my collection - positive and atmospheric, but driving and danceable without being too esoterically fragmented. Why didn't this project yield anything else? Can anybody tell me more about Override?

    So, how to rate this? On an average song rating basis, I'd say four stars. But the sheer volume and "bang for buck" of this compilation cannot be ignored. 30 tracks, most of which have dated extremely well. Whatever your Ninja tastes, you could pick your favourite dozen on here (actually, that could be difficult, given so many great tracks) and make your own iTunes album. Or pick the many tracks not available anywhere else.

    The bottom line is that this one of the best compilations you'll ever find. Certainly my favourite of all the many good Ninja Tune compilations. And definitely one of the albums which most influenced my music career. Thank you, Ma Ninja!

    Four and a half stars.
  • Review: Coldcut - Sound Mirrors

    Fev 15 2006, 1h20 por Fidgital

    Eight years between albums is a long time, even if you are running one of the consistently best and most innovative labels in the world. Coldcut, cut-up music pioneers and founders of the Ninja Tune label, last put out Let Us Play in late 1997. That was a great record and was single-handedly responsible for pulling me into the world of Ninja Tune and the trip-hop underground of the late '90's. One could even say that record was responsible for the formation of Fidgital in 1999.

    So, after all this time, a few singles, remixes, amazing audio-visual tours, Coldcut are back with a new full-length. Sound Mirrors dropped in Canada today, and I was quick to pick up my stylish die-cut packaging.

    The album begins underwhelmingly, with the Zero 7-flavoured trip pop of Man in a Garage, featuring John Matthias on vocals. Uh-oh. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but hardly what we waited 8 years for! Don't worry, though, the vinyl cut-ups at the end of the track are sign of things to come: This record gets better as it goes.

    Track two brings fellow Ninja Roots Manuva in to rap on some seriously infectious hip-hop. TocarTrue Skool has a great double time feel reminscent of k-os's Crabuckit, but without the obvious retro jazz touches, with more eastern pop touches, and a hint of dancehall. Hot.

    TocarJust for the Kick brings Annette Peacock in to deadpan over an electroclash tech house beat. This is really fun, in a Miss Kittin / Princess Superstar kind of way, if they were produced by Si Begg and Basement Jaxx. Very easy to imagine this packing a dancefloor!

    Beats get broken with the neo-soul Walk A Mile featuring Robert Owens, sounding a bit like Vikter Duplaix with an upbeat Silent Poets. It's just too bad the lyrics and chord progressions are so derivative of Depeche Mode's Walking in My Shoes.

    Our next guest star is political spoken word artist Saul Williams, who's worked with Coldcut before on the "Not In Our Name" project. TocarMr Nichols is an orchestral downtempo tone poem supporting Williams' cutting commentary on suicide and American culture. A gorgeous quivering Moog melody takes the role of chorus, until Soweto Kinch takes over with a too-short sax solo.

    American indie-rock turntablist Andrew Broder of Ninja Tune label-matesFog takes the lead vocal and guitar chores for Whistle & A Prayer. The vocals remind me a lot of Cloudead, but honestly, it's the turntablism and pizzicato breakdown at the end that saves this one for me.

    First single TocarEverything Is Under Control pairs up the unlikely combination of Jon Spencer (of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with rapper Mike Ladd (of infesticons and Majesticons fame). The combination is a made-for-college-radio hip hop rock smash, a grower which I enjoy more each time I hear it.

    More broken beat dancehall hip hop in Boogieman, with rhymes provided by Amiri Baraka, building from a minimal groove to an eastern-influenced jazz-funk-electro jam. This leads well into the very political TocarAid Dealer, with Soweto Kinch back on sax AND rhymes. Definitely a high point on the album, Aid Dealer hits as hard with its beats as it does with its message. Afrobeat horns on jazzy breakbeats, warm synth pads, fragmented sax melodies, there's a lot to love here.

    TocarThis Island Earth brings in neo-soul chanteusse Mpho Skeef to deliver another political message. But it's no bad thing - this is also one of the best tracks on the record. A dancehall-flavoured broken beat groove drives the verses, but the choruses are in a 12/8 vaguely-gospel house. Imagine Si Begg with Jazzanova (especially Mwela Mwela). Fantastic and surprising.

    The album closes with two downtempo trip-hop numbers. TocarColours the Soul is the song I wish Zero 7 or Air would make, with gorgeous string arrangements, minimal guitar plucking and a very tasty soul sax section. Title track TocarSound Mirrors shows us the moody and challenging side of Coldcut, and it's a perfect choice to end the album. It reminds me of Red Snapper, but with beautifully sad and magnificent orchestration. Lovely to close with an instrumental after so many guest vocalists.

    So how does it stack up? Is it the equal of Let Us Play? Maybe not quite, but it's damn close. I hope this album will go on to inspire many new musicians the way the previous record inspired me.

    Four stars.