Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: C-mon & Kypski
Album Title: Where The Wild Things Are
Year: 2006

Quiltmasters of Sound (in training)
 
How I Got Into This Music
Hieronymus Fox suggested we listen to this band (gotta change the setup of this post coz this part’s not making any sense..)

The Tracks:

Bumpy Road
FrEg
In-your-face intro - like it. Nice uptempo groove, mixed with Wall of Sound heaviness - like the bass.
The singing offers a strange contrast against the heavy mix of sounds. Nice bridge.
Hieronymus Fox
The single. Kinda when Junkie XL meets Fatboy Slim. The voice-overs are funny at the beginning, but start to annoy me during the song. I am missing a “flow” which makes the song a little boring, I think. Reminds me more of a TV Comedy tune.
frenchy!
Yes, I get the irony, yes, I really do, don’t worry.. Nice 70’s feel combined with scratch-n-breaks. Please notice the great guitar sample in the background! It’s mostly a patchwork track of styles and samples, refreshing and yet a bit tedious!

Chemical Mixture
FrEg
Like the intro even more than Bumpy road’s. Sounds like a cross mix of Aphex Twin break beats meet Chemical Brothers. Lots of tweaks, bells and whistles - in the end it’s too much, especially the scratching. This heavy sequencer based techno is not quite my kinda music
Hieronymus Fox
The start of this song is promising: raw old school hip hop beats meet electrosounds… When they start “freaking” in the song I start losing interest a little. It reminds me more of a DJ battle than a song. 3 minutes of Chemical Mixture is really my limit!
frenchy!
Great sample and scratch work. The track’s sooooo retro (in a great way!)

Attention
FrEg
Kinda easier to digest: more to dance to than on the previous tracks. Starts of in reggae style while ending in acid dance and the ending is too abrupt
Hieronymus Fox
Mhhhh…. “Survival” (a Grandmaster Flash classic) opening and then…. It’s when reggae meets drum’n bass. Where have I heard that before? Despite funny voice samples, this could have been that specific song from Goldie’s first album or the 1998 Freestylers’ album you mostly… skipped…
frenchy!
Afrika Bambaataa and Kraftwerk are back, still with a 00’s cheap ripped-off feeling. That female vocal sample’s from Eric B and Rakim’s Paid In Full. Nice but not shockingly great.

Chocolate
FrEg
Techno goes India - choice of instruments is good, but I don’t get the link between title and music (should’ve listened more closely, FrEg - frenchy!)
Hieronymus Fox
Freaky synth bass, nice acoustics. But still… it doesn’t work for me.
frenchy!
I love the guitar and that funky snake charmer horn!

Conclusion
FrEg
In every song, you hear that it’s well crafted and thought through. The mix of styles is all over the place which makes it harder for me to form a strong opinion about this band. All-in-all the balance is going towards positive so give it a serious try yourself!
3/5
Hieronymus Fox
First of all, respect for the attempt of crossing music borders (again), but the search for new and surprising is annoying me. Every moment is used for “new” twists in the songs. Where’s the soul? For Fatboy Slim it worked. The chosen instruments and sounds should be sufficient for almost half of it. The songs I have listened to, made me think of a collage [...] and this starts to annoy me every time halfway the song.
Sorry guys…. I am not going to buy your album, but I am curious for your next one.
frenchy!
It’s different in the same way you describe a girl as having a great personality. Thing is, it really isn’t about the looks, it’s about the sound and that’s where the band kinda falls short. I wouldn’t mind seeing them live though, they sure as hell have a great energy!

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General Description
Artist/Band: The Chemical Brothers
Album Title: Push The Button
Year: 2005

Relevant Dance Musicians.

How I Got Into This Music
From the first time I heard Block Rockin’ Beats I still kinda get that feeling of listening to something exciting and new when a track from The Chemical Brothers is played. This band has managed to lay out the ground works of a diferent style of dance music: sweet and corny like cotton candy, but interesting and different like your first taste of caviar, Thai food or fried locust (train of thought got delayed and persisted in not arriving on the right track, sorry..)
What I mean to say: this band is always on the look out for something different while always keeping in mind that dance music should in some way be danceable.. I’m not a hardcore follower of their music, I enjoy their singles and their approach to videos.

Tracks that got my attention:

Galvanise
Wow, just when you think Q-Tip of the defunct A Tribe Called Quest was out of the picture, he gently nudges you in your crotch with his nasal voice and sweet vocal performance in a track heavily inspired by North African sounds. Great first track for an album, great first release from an album

The Boxer
No, not the Simon & Garfunkel classic but I great track with an incredible mix of metallic beats, dreamy mini soundscapes and great vocals by a guy I’m defnitely gonna check out: Tim Burgess

Hold Tight London
Nice car chase, Michael Mann moody movie style, track with haunting vocals by Anne-Lynne of the band Trespassers William

Come Inside
Representing my idea of what I see as being a typical Chemical Brothers vibe and style. (But then again, what the frag do I know?)

Surface To Air
This one’s gonna be used for car advertisements or something like that. Catchy, a bit weird but still safe for a larger audience.

Shake Break Bounce
Great track, I think this summer’s remix hit in a lot of dance venues, especially the Costas
Marvo Ging
Weird Blues thingy going on and for some reason the track goes in a kinda different direction than I expect without being pleasantly surprising

Surface To Air
Doesn’t work for me. There’s a bit they use in the build up that keeps reminding me of U2’s ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’ mixed with Blue Monday. Other than that, nada..

Conclusion
First things first: tracks from this album should be listened to at a large dance venue or, for some strange reason, in a car with a great sound system. This is true for most dance music, but at home it kinda loses too much of its value. Keeping that in mind, I still don’t think a whole album of The Chemical Brothers is my thing. However, I really think these guys are great innovators of dance and sound. Maybe it’s not possible to be innovative to whole time? Duh..

Rating:

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