As the introduction to the album, MILT SHAKE opens with an obviously dub-and-loopy programming section featuring a trumpet sample that fills most of the track, and automatically puts me at unease. But, deep in the background of the track is some wonderful live vibraphone from Andrea Pala. At the point I begin to take in the vibraphone, I am introduced to the mostly-live saxophone takes of Dr. Blade; he wields his way through the song, playing (toying) with the ever-present annoying trumpet sample. I am very much ready to move to the next track -
GROOVY NIGHT drops immediately with a 4/4 house rhythm that sounds strangely similar to a previously released Everything But The Girl track; I also get a good listen to vocalist Miss LouLou. Straight out of the gate, this track is completely awful - even in-spite of the EBtG sample.
ELIZABEAT begins with a jazzy drum piece with some random keys over the top, and then moves into some sort of nonchalant half-sample dub that never really takes the listener anywhere at all. It does, however, feature some decent sax work from blade, but nothing over the top.
SEVEN REASONS WHY has a great first forty seconds of movement, with no back-beat to be found. The song then moves through some slight songwriting and more flaccid lyrics as its laid-back groove takes you through.
FIRST MAN THEN MACHINE is the 2nd house track on the album and drops in with some nice San Fran-styled production. The track is all sample oriented, but the guitar solo samples used are top notch - the best soloist instrumentation on the entire album in my opinion. Any house DJ that spins deep jazzy house would probably spin this track. I quite enjoyed this one - good work guys.
BECAUSE OF YOU rocks right in with another deep and jazzy dance track, it also has an extremely catchy hook line with a nice sugary melody and lyrics. This one also has the potential to
The INTERLUDE is a Kenny G-styled ambient solo track with some synth and sub-par saxophone playing from Dr. Blade.
UN MONDE SANS FRIME drops right into a jungle rhythm and features some nice French vocal work from Pascale Charreton. This one is reminiscent of Dimitri From Paris and is extremely catchy. One of the things I really liked about this track was the upright bass runs that flowed in halftime 4/4 with the overlaying jungle loops - a nice touch indeed.
A muted trumpet breaks in FUSION IN FUSION as Miss LouLou sings about whatever it is that she is singing about. There is a decent trombone solo toward the back-end of the track that takes it out.
With the same broken beat lounge styling that flows through most of the album, THANK YOU VERY MUCH moves on with the same pseudo-jazz format and doesn't really deviate from the standard Dr. Jazz path. Although the production is decent, and the hook line is catchy, I am finished with the over-sampled sound at this point.
GROOVE SUPREME is a bonus track that sounds like just that - a bonus track that never really left the cutting
DJ Shade gives us a house remix of BECAUSE OF YOU - it's somewhat electro and has some nice dubby cuts and time structure. The funky and "heady" nature of this track will ensure that it sees a European dance floor somewhere.
DJ Ultraviolet also has his hand at a remix. This time it's a laid back and dubby broken beat version of GROOVY NIGHT. There is some nice polyphonic drum work and the beats are quaint. The melody between the original track and the remix additions clash at times, but overall it's a decent remix for a horrible song.
GROOVY NIGHT (Club '70 Remix) is an American-disco-funk house remix that nearly makes the original lyrics bearable - but not too bearable.
Overall - the album follows suit with the Neo Lounge Jazz revolution that is currently sweeping through Italy and most of Europe. The sound quality is good, but the actual finished production is not. The material within had the absolute potential to be molded and shaped into a very nice sounding album, but unfortunately for our hero's, the actual production should have been left in someone else's capable hands.
