Album Results
Album Reviews
Even though Morcheeba were one of the later, straggling entries in the trip-hop phenomenon, their previous albums succeed because of the interplay between Skye Edwards' sweetly sensual, airy voice and the band's correspondingly mellow grooves. Their third album, Fragments of Freedom, scraps most of their signature sound for experiments in R&B, acid jazz, and hip-hop. It's certainly understandable that the group would want to move away from the dead-and-buried trip-hop sound that defined them originally, and now Morcheeba are using bands like Brand New Heavies and M People as sonic templates instead of Tricky and Portishead. The opening track, "World Looking In," ranks among their finest, and the steel drum instrumental "A Well Deserved Break" is pretty and refreshing. "Shallow End" boasts a lilting, seductive melody that showcases Edwards' voice instead of fighting against it, and the title track is a pleasant enough piece of trip-hop pastiche. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide
Track Listing
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Transient Pluxus |
| Hailing from Sweden Pluxus are an electronic three piece that have being plucked from the fringes due to their track, 'Transient', featuring in a decidedly slick advert for the new Ford Fiesta. Mixing mangled live bass, white noise crackles and twinkling ethereal organ the record is all at once startling and soothing and leaves an instant sonic fingerprint on the listener. This makes it perfect for advertising executives wanting to grab the viewer's attention and also explains why it has suddenly flown up the Shazam tag chart. A closer inspection of the band's album, 'Solid State', which was released on the avant -garde minimal techno label Kompakt earlier this year, further pulls the listener in. Despite Kraftwerk being a prominent influence the music is not easily categorised, veering from melodic washes of warm synthesizer to menacing electro moments in an instant, making the music all at once less urgent than most dance music but more engaging than Zero 7 style electronica. Despite being largely overlooked when they first arrived on the scene it looks as though Pluxus may well yet get another well deserved bite of the cherry thanks to this latest dose of corporate exposure.~Stephen Titmus~Copyright © Shazam Entertainment Limited 2009. All rights reserved | |
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