ELECTROLOUNGE ARCHIVE A
NuJazz TripHop Ambient Dance

Nick Cave's longtime Bad Seeds bassist Barry Adamson has a great knack for creating (and recreating) soundtracks. This disc compiles a strong, yet varied selection of Adamson's solo efforts. There's the confident cover of Elmer Bernstein's film noir theme "The Man with the Golden Arm". And there's a unique take on "The James Bond Theme". Best of all are Adamson originals like "Jazz Devil", "The Big Bamboozle" and "Something Wicked This Way Comes". Whether it's crime jazz, downtempo vibes, house or lounge, Adamson does it with professional polish, humor and style.

Everyone's favorite French electro duo is back with its best album yet. While Moon Safari -- Air's classic debut -- may be a sentimental favorite for many, Talkie Walkie is arguably better. The instrumentation is richer without being bloated and the production is more refined, without being "slick" in a mainstream sense.

Most importantly, each track is unique and memorable in its own way. Stand out tracks for this reviewer include "Cherry Blossom Girl" (the single), "Run", "Surfing on a Rocket" and "Alpha Beta Gaga". The album closes with "Alone in Kyoto", which is featured on the Lost in Translation soundtrack.

The special edition of the CD comes with a DVD featuring a film that combines live performance (a handful of tracks from Moon Safari and 10,000 Hz Legend) with behind the scenes footage (band members crate digging, etc.). Unless you have a crush on one of the members you aren't likely to watch it again and again, but it's a nice extra.

Air is back and cloudier than ever. Air's debut Moon Safari may still be their best work, but 10,000 HZ Legend is more ambitious and more uneven as a result.

The opener "Electronic Performers" sets the tone: Dark and moody, deeply melodic, blending acoustic with electronic and distortion effects on the vocals. The treatment carries over into "How Does it Make You Feel?" but comes off as pretentious.

The hit single "Radio #1" almost sounds like Bowie on side A of Low, but not quite... But then there's Beck to save the day on "The Vagabond" -- and this is where the disc picks up steam.

It's followed by "Radian," which is the best instrumental track on 10,000 HZ Legend and one of the best things by the French duo of Dunckel and Godin. The track builds from a droning loop (ala Fripp & Eno's No Pussyfooting), picks up a pulse and some Lisa Gerrard-style moaning. After two-and-a-half blissed out minutes, the track picks up melodic direction via keyboard and flute, drums and bass, followed by a lovely acoustic guitar solo. The closing section is like an outtake from Roxy Music's For Your Pleasure (yes, it's that good).

The mood becomes tense on "Lucky and Unhappy," which features a cool call and response vocal (male and female).

"Sex Born Poison" is an acoustic ambient cut with more distorted vocals. The track's middle section is haunting stuff.

"People in the City" finds the duo chanting the title in the catchiest way possible. Instead of creating tedium, the track locks into a nice groove. The vocoder actually sounds good here. And the final section, featuring a psychadelic freak out, is entrancing.

"Wonder Milky Bitch" sounds as perverse as its title. It has a soundtrack quality, but the mood shifts along with lead instruments, making it a tricky listening experience. It's grimly funny in its own way, but lacks cohesiveness.

"Don't Be Light" is grandeous and practically an arena rocking anthem for fans of cut'n'paste. It wears out its welcome.

The closer "Caramel Prisoner" is acoustic ambient filler.

Final Consensus: Middle section is strong, the rest is pretentious or just plain tired.

Charles Casey and Damian Hand exhibit some unexpected influences on the new Akasha full length, which boasts a very Red Hot Chilipeppers-type title, Love Philtre Magick. The music doesn't sound like the funky hard rock group from SoCal, however, it sounds like... a number of different things.

On the opening track, "21st Century Boy," the group rips off the hard-driving bass and drum frenzy of King Crimson's "The Talking Drum" (from the 1973 album Larks Tongues in Aspic). And in true prog rock fashion, the track (it's title a slight homage to Crimson's "21st Century Schzoid Man") extends through episodic passages for 11 minutes. From there, Casey and Hand ape Nick Cave/Barry Adamson-type noir balladry ("Ray's Song"), exotica ("Al Kamiri"), a Tom Waits/Bill Burroughs-inspired Farfisa-driven rockabilly ska mutation ("Mugwamp Mondo"), some atmospheric filler ("Interlude" "Duke"), breakbeat soul cum hard rock stomper (the title track), downtempo ("Wicca Woman") and a Portishead-like closer ("Requiem - The Blues Part 2").

With so much stylistic variance one might imagine a mess, though oddly it hangs together fairly well. Call it a fascinating mess. Certainly never boring. The extended coda on the final track (like something from a latter day Beatles album) is -- in its sublime simplicity -- worth the trip. Beautiful.

L.A. electro-lounge outfit The Anubian Lights have married exotica with electronica for essential summer listening.

This CD E.P. is too damn short! Featuring five tracks (including one remix) pairing the insolent erotic poetics of Lydia Lunch and the electrolounge dance production of the Anubian Lights, Champagne, Cocaine & Nicotine Stains proves to be an intoxicating cocktail. The stand-out tracks are the first three: "Nothing but Trouble," the title track and "Potango Tango" -- all of them mini masterpieces. "Guernicana" and the instrumental remix of "Potango Tango" are merely enjoyable. Subversive, exotic and extremely danceable -- just get it already!

Achim Treu and Jon Appleton team up for 12 tracks of electroacoustic cut 'n' paste on the amusingly titled Wunderbra. Treu is a former member of Dauerfisch, whose 1999 album Crime of the Century on Bungalow is a satisfyingly poppy sampledelic set. He finds a worthy partner in Appleton, who is a professor of music at Dartmouth College and founding member of two electroacoustic music organizations.

Wunderbra almostly perfectly meshes the electro and acoustic elements for a compelling listening experience. There's beauty ("Voce cafeterie comigo") and ugliness ("Eight pounds of muscles"), quirky humor ("Coffee & Cream") and sensuality ("Miranda Moon"). Every track offers a different mood. Great headphone listen.

Despite its association with the home label of Thievery Corporation, Arkestra One is likely to draw more comparisons to Zero 7 and Air. This is due to its penchant for lush orchestral atmospherics, moody cinematic keyboard melodies and sometimes lazy rhythms.

Finland's Matthew Timoney is the music mind behind Arkestra One. He credits his creative impetus to hearing Air's Moon Safari. That's a fine place to get inspiration, but thankfully Timoney doesn't ape the French duo's sound.

Arkestra One proves to be a promising debut. It's clearly the work of someone who has more than an ear for great samples, but also an ear for haunting melodies and infectious rhythms. The opening track, "Into the Light" is simple and gorgeous and that can be said of several tracks -- Timoney nevers muddles the mix with unnecessary notes.

Like Zero 7, Arkestra One uses vocals sparingly -- generally by Nina Miranda, who whisper sings in the vein of Astrud Gilberto. He also uses samples to good effect -- particularly on the subversively funny "Man from the Audience."

All in all, Arkestra One's debut is a downtempo gem.

[  to the top, baby!  ]

Arling & Cameron -- the Netherland's biggest electro-pop artists are back with their third full length. After the inspired Music for Imaginary Films, the duo have returned to more conventional, but no less enjoyable pop territory explored on their Emperor Norton full length debut, All-In.

A&C style hop from electronic dance pop ("B.B. Electro") to hip pop ("We are A&C") to soul balladry ("Born in June") to lounge pop ("Ocean Drive") and bump 'n' grind rock'n'roll ("Multiplication Blues") with the sort of professionalism that has made their music a popular fit in TV advertising.

"Ocean Drive" and "Sunday" are likely to draw comparisons to the latter day work of another masterful studio group, Steely Dan. Like Becker and Fagen, Arling & Cameron exhibit a command over sophisticated arrangements.

Elsewhere, A&C trade sophistication for fun. Tracks like "Dirty Robot" are favorably reminiscent of Kraftwerk and the synth pop groups of the 80s.

The fact that A&C change styles with almost every track can be distracting. The R&B soul ballads sound a bit generic and the hip hop-flavored title track sounds a bit too calculated and gimmicky. Otherwise it's another solid demonstration of the group's chameleonic talent.

Brazil's Azymuth plays a smooth blend of broken beat, funky samba and jazzy downtempo. Partido Novo is the band's fifth release on Far Out, since leaving Milestone, where they cut several albums in the 70s and 80s.

The band has updated its sound with up-to-the-minute production techniques, making for an enjoyable nu-jazz listen. The title translates as broken or off-beat. That said, some listeners will find the record a bit too slick for its own good -- or not off-beat enough to stand out from the many other Latin-tinged nu-jazz records on the market. It's tastefully arranged and competently performed, but doesn't linger in one's memory for long. Mellow, but not memorable.