Thievery Corporation - The Richest Man in Babylon [2002]
Posted by admin on June 13th, 2008
Even more similar to its predecessor, The Mirror Conspiracy, than that one was to the first Thievery Corporation LP, The Richest Man in Babylon provides some beat-heavy, languorous excursions into territory long-favored by Thievery Corporation — namely, the music of Brazil, India, and Jamaica — but doesn’t have the hooks or the production finesse to compete with The Mirror Conspiracy. On the opener, “Heaven’s Gonna Burn Your Eyes,” guest Emiliana Torrini treasures her vocals endearingly, but the backing could’ve been taken wholesale from any of a dozen Thievery productions Read the rest of this entry »
From where I sit, electronic dance music has seriously fallen off in the last couple of years. But it seems like the Soft Pink Truth is the only act around that is still experimenting with a super fun, balls to the wall, approach to cutting edge electronic methods. I was a bit nervous about this album when I heard that it was to be “a comparative analysis of early English punks songs as they relate to American hardcore tracks of similar era”. I mean to say that I knew the guys from Matmos were nerdy academics from the Bay, but I just did not want The Soft Pink Truth to lose its funk-nastiness. 
Another prodigy discovered by Finland’s wonder boy Jaakko Salovaara (also known as JS16), Darude (born Ville Virtanen) slowly started to conquer the dance world with two hit singles, “Sandstorm” and “Feel the Beat.” Those songs might be very attractive and rhythmic, but unfortunately Darude’s debut full-length doesn’t succeed quite as well. First of all, the main problem of Before the Storm is its monotony. Its entire content can be easily described by the two hit singles. The rest of album is mostly just a variation of that theme, and it just doesn’t work if you’re not on a dancefloor. This may be due to Jaakko Salovaara’s presence — JS16’s house is also monotonous; with no diversity whatsoever. Whether this is a good thing or not just depends on the context in which one hears the music. 
Kate Ryan’s voice all be it very beautiful in English, excels in French to a level of pure bliss… the few songs that she sings in French are so moving that you wish she would sing all of them in French. All her dance music wonderful beat with a sound that makes you wish the song would never end her other songs are equally very strong each with its own melodic tune that while bass driven is not overbearing in bass as so much dance beats are now-a-days. I really wish more English stations in the U.S. would play here music in French, I am sure that their phone lines would be off the hook with people asking who does that sultry voice belong to. Je t’aime Kate Ryan and if you give her music a try you will to. The money you spend will be well worth it. 
The strangest thing about Infected Mushroom is not their squirty, talismanic collages of electronics, nor their name which must’ve come up after a long night of dismissing the lyrical sparkle of Unhygienic Elastic or Corruptible Pencil — no, the strangest thing about these Israelian dance nutjobs is that they’re actually rather good. Restrained samples for those that care. Torrential arrangements for those that don’t. Amid Duvdevani and Erez Aizen funnel the more traditional uplift of MDMA through their clearly unique background to offer ever-busy, often over-complicated psychedelic trance that sounds like an Orb record demanding money for cleaning rain. High marks for constructing one of the few celebratory albums for the demented. Review by Dean Carlson @ allmusic.com 
Classical Mushroom, Infected Mushroom’s second album, began quietly with dovetailing acoustic guitars and some washboard clack, and then carelessly tossed everything into a warped micro-anthology of spastic pianos, filthy acid, brutal Daft Punk bass, button-popping female samples, and big fat riffs of market-friendly symphonic trance. To some extent, “Bust a Move” was the most thrillingly unhinged Infected Mushroom track to date, a creditable new watermark of extreme dance that would be difficult to beat, but as an opener it lessened the impact of the remaining moments and made this wonderful and inconsistent follow-up a bit top-heavy. Review by Dean Carlson @ allmusic.com 
San Francisco’s Kaskade is considered one of the most exciting house music DJs in the country and one of the hottest breakthrough artists in this genre. This is his third album - a shimmering collection of lush house tracks infused with his trademark vocal-laden melodies and addictive interludes. It epitomizes the sultry sounds of San Francisco. Kaskade has remixed such top pop artists as Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, and his last mix album includes a Grammy nominated song. 
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