Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: Groove Armada
Album Title: Soundboy Rock
Year: 2007

Steady quality!
 
How I Got Into This Music
Ahh, Groove Armada.. Lemme think for a bit.. Yep, TV on as background filler while messing about behind my PC (I so really need to get a life, sigh..). Sand Dunes was the track that turned my whole brain upside down: weird and haunting chorus, wacky lyrics and.. Hold on! The title of the track wasn’t Sand Dunes, it was At The River.. So the final thing with that song was the unbelievable use of the trombone, outtasight!
Anyways, first album I listened to was Goodbye Country, Hello Nightclub from waaaay back in 2001.
The album still is an exciting piece of work, with the Dutch favorite My Friend; that one became a big hit after being used as the theme for a beverage ad. After that came the not so great album Love Box and then I kinda lost track of them. But now this new album’s out and I couldn’t resist giving it a try..

Album info at Answers.com || Google Search for reviews of this album || More on the band at || Watch their stuff at

Tracks that got my attention:
Get Down ft. Stush
First track released as a single, didn’t work for me in the beginning but now, it’s one of my favorites! Nasty vocals and the great energizer bunny beat..

The Things That We Could Share ft. Simon Lord
Man, the intro really sucks, I wanted to skip this one, but… Sixty seconds into the track and you get rewarded with an excellent, almost typical Groove Armada, Great Summer Feeling - man-o-man!

Save My Soul
Retro 80’s vibe, great breackdance feeling mixed with soundscape chords in the background.

What’s Your Version ft. Jeb Loy Nichols
Sweet and husky (sounds like a softporn title, but I digress..) vocals by mister Jeb Loy Nichols remind me a bit of Mozez - lovely!

Paris ft. Candi Staton
The monster opening with the strings is brutally beautiful - vocals done by Legendary Diva don’t impress me that much.

Love Sweet Sound ft. Candi Staton
Much better vocals by Legendary Diva! Great groove, great vibe!

The Girls Say ft. Rhymefest
Interesting, a great mix of Missy Elliott and Outkast with a great girl chorus.

Drop That Thing
Nasty beat, love the dance energy - great potential for being annoying, but that really depends on your listening mood.

Song 4 Mutya ft. Mutya Buena
Mutya’s eyes are something that make my knees go all weak and such.. Ex-Sugababe gone solo and doing okay on this track. Eyes or no, it’s mostly the track that gets the job done and it’s surefire production to create a great summer hit!

What’s Your Version (Reprise)
Wow, the laidback guitar.. I like this one better that the sorta original track!! Dreamy, just floating in the clouds, dreamy..

Feel The Same ft. Angie Stone
I hate this track.. It’s like a permanent intro, you keep waiting for the payoff, but you’re just stuck in this intro.
I love this track.. The vocals, miss Angie breaks my heart, as always, loveitloveitloveit!!

Conclusion
I’ve been playing this album for a coupla months now and it doesn’t get boring. The balanced production of different styles and approaches to the tracks is some Serious Stuff. Groove Armada do what they do best: making music they want to make. I didn’t mind Love Box being done in a way that I didn’t enjoy, I accepted the fact that these guys just do things their way.
Maybe the next album will suck lemons, but I will always check out what this band delivers.

Rating:

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1. New Groove Armada album: Soundboy Rock
2. My online addiction: Desktop Tower Defence - a simple game..
3. Just read that they want to block non-US listeners from the excellent music streaming service, Pandora.com - bugger those record company execs with a large and blunt instrument..

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General Description
Artist/Band: Jazzanova
Album Title: In Between
Year: 2002

Electronic, Warm and Grooooovaaay..
 
How I Got Into This Music
Can’t remember.. Damn, it’s the old age and all that apfelkorn all those years, heh..
Ehm.. Yep, must be around the time of my Discovery Of New Music in 2001: heard Groove Armada and Zero 7 for the first time that year. Jazzanova are one of those great additions to that list.

Review at Answers.com || Google Search: Reviews of In Between || Concert dates

Tracks that got my attention:
L.O.V.E. (and you and I)
Damn.. Still breaks me into little pieces. Just love (no friggin’ pun intended) the whole setup: that sample (almost sure it’s Andy Williams) and those gazillion different beats! On a later album they even produced a track with just those beats on it - incredible experience..

No Use ft. Clara Hill
Nice song, sometimes a bit too slow, but on a lazy summer afternoon? Perfect laidbackness

The One-Tet ft Capital A
Funky, groovy, jazzy and some quality raps

Fade Out
Nice dramatic interlude

Hanazono
Starts out nice, but gets a bit messy afterwards, but.. Production value is very good

Mwela, Mwela (Here I Am) ft Valerie Etienne
Other way around, intro’s not so great, but I just keep waiting for those incredibly beautiful and powerful vocals to start and then.. it’s heaven!

Keep Falling ft. Ursula Rucker
Great, haunting vocals and lyrics

Cyclic
Love this interlude, just the whole contrast of darkness and light, setting up the next track

Another New Day
Excellent track for traveling!

Place In Between
Meh.. Not impressed

Soon ft Vikter Duplaix
Great voice, soulful and classy

Dance the Dance ft Doug Hammond
Oooooooooooooooo… One of the best tracks on this album: it’s soundscapes, incredible vocals, breaks, beats, instruments and production

Sub-Atlantic
Meh..

Glow And Glare
80’s dance and soul instrumental - weirdly nice. Especially like the build-up

E-Ovation
Funny

Takes You Back ft Desney Bailey
Large variety of pleasant beats and great vocals, also heavy on the retro

Wasted Time ft Vikter Duplaix
Perfect mood ballad i.e. a Shut The Curtains And Let’s Get Nasty ™ classic!

Conclusion
Funny thing this band.. The music isn’t always easy or dancable, sometimes even a bit annoying. But 85% of the time you get great audiophonics combined with soundscapes, moodlands and everything you need to chill, relax, travel, sleep, dream and make love to. Great album! Saw that they’re performing in Amsterdam at the end of this month - time to check them out..

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General Description
Artist/Band: Nightmares On Wax
Album Title: In A Space Outta Sound
Year: 2006

Catchy dance grooves!
 
How I Got Into This Music
Well, if you stroll around stuff by people like Zero 7, Jazzanova and Groove Armada, you kinda get this group in your sights very quickly. First time I really connected with their music was when I heard ‘Night Interlude’ (or remix, can’t remember), a very mellow track that triggered quite some memories. I knew the keyboard sample from The Pharcyde’s ‘Passing Me By’ and that made me go nuts coz I was happy with the discovery but I still didn’t know the original track, dammit! So, one nice Sunday morning, enjoying my brunch over at Dizzy’s Jazz Cafe I was pleasantly surprised coz they were playing the original track: Quincy Jones’ excellent version of ‘Summer In The City’.. Weird, huh?
Anyways, this album came out and I just had to gave it a listen..

Tracks that got my attention:
Passion
Uhm.. I don’t get it.. This is probably one of the most simple songs ever made in this galaxy.. So why do I get this incredible feeling of joy everytime I hear it? ARGH! Perfect moment to listen to this track: driving your car along the Maasboulevard in Rotterdam at sunset on a lazy and hazy day, oooooooooh..

The Sweetest
Weird track, the ragga-ska guitar and dub are unbelievably catchy, but the bass didn’t thump the hell out of my speakers. Still loving it though.

Damn
Wow.. Just sit back, relax and enjoy this track! Soundscapes, very minute details and accents and a great vocal setup with Chyna B and the gospel choir thingy. Catchy and groovy!

You Wish
Taking us back to the ‘more familiar’ sound of NoW

Me!
Kinda Appollo 440-ish rock guitar loops with sweet vocals, works for me after listening to it a coupla times.

I Am You
sigh.. wow.. wow (again)..
Who the hell is this guy?!?! I mean, Mozez, yep, that’s his name and try finding anything on him on the net with just that name..
I’ve been enjoying this artist’s vocals on the Zero 7 albums and it’s incredible how much emotion and depth he can give a track: an absolute master!

African Pirates
Now here’s a track waiting to be picked for a commercial. It’s easy to imagine this becoming a dance floor hit this summer!

Conclusion
Yep, a very catchy and groovy album with different hooks for different tastes. Can’t compare it with any previous stuff, but I can imagine a very commercially successful year for Nightmares On Wax.

Rating: (and a big thanks to Mozez’ performance..)

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