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| Track list: 1. The Sea 2. Shoulder Holster 3. Part Of The Process 4. Blindfold 5. Let Me See 6. Bullet Proof 7. Over and Over 8. Friction 9. Diggin' A Watery Grave 10. Fear & Love 11. Big Calm Running time: 46 minutes Released: 1998 |
Now this takes me back to university. Pretty sure I got into this album through my flatmate in my second year. I cannot really imagine it holding up well as a rule, but I suspect the stand out tracks are still the stand outs now, and that I will easily slip back into chill mode for some of them.
It stats strongly. The opening refrains of The Sea immediately throw me back 15 years. A sort of quiet swell to begin with, before the pattern that will dominate the track enters the picture. I am relatively certain that it was this song that convinced me to pick up my own copy of the album, though later I would come to like Blindfold more. Listening to it now, my god the lyrics are awful, I always knew they were bad but blimey. Thankfully they are by far the lesser part of the whole, the sonic bubble created, gently pulsing with the beat progression is a warm and comfortable space - though in all honesty it speaks more to a cosy room on a dark evening than it does to the seaside. The lead-out is too long, I realise; not a flaw I recall.
I can pull something to mind, tune-wise, for all of the names in the caption but they are foggy memories. I haven't listened to this in a decade I reckon. Shoulder Holster is a darker sound, though the lightness of the vocal is at odds with the incessant beats, as too is the sitar or whatever jangly strings that are used to create what little passes for a melody. This tune is quite bad really, whilst not being unpleasant. The repetitive nature of the rhythm is a turn off though. Whilst as the track goes by, we get more variation over the beat pattern, the percussion itself is simply looped over and over and it does my head in. I could be mistaken, but I think repetitive loops are a big feature on this disc and if that gets to me too much I could be cutting a lot, nostalgia or not.
Part of the Process opens by relying on a looped hook, it backs pretty much all of the verse but melts away (or rather is replaced) during the chorus. In its defense, there's a nice twee country vibe to the tune and the beat is catchy. It feels like pure unadulterated cheese through the lens of history and much more musical exposure now though. That's OK. There is room in my life for cheese now and again, but am I just getting attached to the memory of what was, by and large, three good years in Bristol? I was back there a couple of weeks ago, meeting up with old university friends. We're all mid 30s now and wondering where life has gone to a degree. Kicked it old school that day though, regressing to our teenage selves and consoles and games of the time.
Blindfold is groovier, a bit darker and more reminiscent in tone of Morcheeba's first album Who Can You Trust which I recall preferring to this when I picked it up. The string sample is essential, the rhythm is well suited, it leaves space - a sense of emptiness that the vocals float through, and the guitar adds a necessary edge from time to time, a snap and antidote to what could otherwise allow you to tune out. It devolves into wordlessness as it closes, and there is often a touch of laziness about that approach in my mind, but more than anything else in these first four tracks it holds up to the memory, and is still something I can enjoy.
The album definitely has a sense of contrast going for it. The top end - vocal and melodies both - is often very airy, whilst the lower registers and percussion are anything but. It keeps things interestingly open and means that whilst a lot of the shine has gone along with my youth since this album was released, it doesn't feel like a rehash of the same tired old themes. Bullet Proof is a funky instrumental, harking back to the 70s in some senses. As soon as it starts I remember it well, though not before. I really rather like the core loops here, and find that in this instance it is more the variation - particularly the scratching and sampled vocal - that lets it down. That said, the track absolutely needs some pattern breakers but it could have done with better. The loops though - both top end and rhythm - are mesmeric, producing a structure that has me subconsciously nodding along before I realise I am doing it and force myself to stop. Can't prevent the slight sway in time though.
Over and Over changes up the dominant tone. This is left to strings and an acoustic guitar loop to create the playground for the singer. I am not a fan, I think it ditches the bits that Morcheeba are best at, the big loopy rhythmic soundscapes. Yes, the rhythms aren't always massively interesting, but the layering of other sounds often makes up for this. I want to like Friction for bringing those loops back, but frankly the whole track just falls flat for me, something not quite right about the muted horns, a little too canned. I do have fond memories of the last couple of tracks though so once we're past what is practically an interlude the wind down might be better. Or as a 30 something I might just find it trite.
Fear and Love turns out to be schmaltzier than I remember, but the tune is crafted pretty well, and I find it has a dream-like quality to it that means I can forgive the mass-market chill-out repeat-driven blahness of the lyric. The closer, the title track though? I love the swirling sounds in this - another classic loopy roll. The rapping over it I could quite happily leave, but the musical themes are incredibly good and stand up to my recollection of them really well. I wouldn't want a whole album of it, but as a single track the waves, the layering comes together in a way I find very pleasing indeed and its 6 minute length rolls by in no time.
Overall? A nice easy start to life after John Lee Hooker then. A couple of duff tracks to get rid of but mostly a pleasing enough return to a simpler time. In no way would I claim that this band were masters, but they got pretty good at doing one thing rather well.
It stats strongly. The opening refrains of The Sea immediately throw me back 15 years. A sort of quiet swell to begin with, before the pattern that will dominate the track enters the picture. I am relatively certain that it was this song that convinced me to pick up my own copy of the album, though later I would come to like Blindfold more. Listening to it now, my god the lyrics are awful, I always knew they were bad but blimey. Thankfully they are by far the lesser part of the whole, the sonic bubble created, gently pulsing with the beat progression is a warm and comfortable space - though in all honesty it speaks more to a cosy room on a dark evening than it does to the seaside. The lead-out is too long, I realise; not a flaw I recall.
I can pull something to mind, tune-wise, for all of the names in the caption but they are foggy memories. I haven't listened to this in a decade I reckon. Shoulder Holster is a darker sound, though the lightness of the vocal is at odds with the incessant beats, as too is the sitar or whatever jangly strings that are used to create what little passes for a melody. This tune is quite bad really, whilst not being unpleasant. The repetitive nature of the rhythm is a turn off though. Whilst as the track goes by, we get more variation over the beat pattern, the percussion itself is simply looped over and over and it does my head in. I could be mistaken, but I think repetitive loops are a big feature on this disc and if that gets to me too much I could be cutting a lot, nostalgia or not.
Part of the Process opens by relying on a looped hook, it backs pretty much all of the verse but melts away (or rather is replaced) during the chorus. In its defense, there's a nice twee country vibe to the tune and the beat is catchy. It feels like pure unadulterated cheese through the lens of history and much more musical exposure now though. That's OK. There is room in my life for cheese now and again, but am I just getting attached to the memory of what was, by and large, three good years in Bristol? I was back there a couple of weeks ago, meeting up with old university friends. We're all mid 30s now and wondering where life has gone to a degree. Kicked it old school that day though, regressing to our teenage selves and consoles and games of the time.
Blindfold is groovier, a bit darker and more reminiscent in tone of Morcheeba's first album Who Can You Trust which I recall preferring to this when I picked it up. The string sample is essential, the rhythm is well suited, it leaves space - a sense of emptiness that the vocals float through, and the guitar adds a necessary edge from time to time, a snap and antidote to what could otherwise allow you to tune out. It devolves into wordlessness as it closes, and there is often a touch of laziness about that approach in my mind, but more than anything else in these first four tracks it holds up to the memory, and is still something I can enjoy.
The album definitely has a sense of contrast going for it. The top end - vocal and melodies both - is often very airy, whilst the lower registers and percussion are anything but. It keeps things interestingly open and means that whilst a lot of the shine has gone along with my youth since this album was released, it doesn't feel like a rehash of the same tired old themes. Bullet Proof is a funky instrumental, harking back to the 70s in some senses. As soon as it starts I remember it well, though not before. I really rather like the core loops here, and find that in this instance it is more the variation - particularly the scratching and sampled vocal - that lets it down. That said, the track absolutely needs some pattern breakers but it could have done with better. The loops though - both top end and rhythm - are mesmeric, producing a structure that has me subconsciously nodding along before I realise I am doing it and force myself to stop. Can't prevent the slight sway in time though.
Over and Over changes up the dominant tone. This is left to strings and an acoustic guitar loop to create the playground for the singer. I am not a fan, I think it ditches the bits that Morcheeba are best at, the big loopy rhythmic soundscapes. Yes, the rhythms aren't always massively interesting, but the layering of other sounds often makes up for this. I want to like Friction for bringing those loops back, but frankly the whole track just falls flat for me, something not quite right about the muted horns, a little too canned. I do have fond memories of the last couple of tracks though so once we're past what is practically an interlude the wind down might be better. Or as a 30 something I might just find it trite.
Fear and Love turns out to be schmaltzier than I remember, but the tune is crafted pretty well, and I find it has a dream-like quality to it that means I can forgive the mass-market chill-out repeat-driven blahness of the lyric. The closer, the title track though? I love the swirling sounds in this - another classic loopy roll. The rapping over it I could quite happily leave, but the musical themes are incredibly good and stand up to my recollection of them really well. I wouldn't want a whole album of it, but as a single track the waves, the layering comes together in a way I find very pleasing indeed and its 6 minute length rolls by in no time.
Overall? A nice easy start to life after John Lee Hooker then. A couple of duff tracks to get rid of but mostly a pleasing enough return to a simpler time. In no way would I claim that this band were masters, but they got pretty good at doing one thing rather well.
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