archive : again : mp3

hello.

in the uk things are hot hot hot at the moment. so much so that it feels unnatural to listen to fast-n-furious disco-electro-punk'd up dance music and the need to keep the groove somewhat mellow. with this in mind, i started digging through my archives when i remembered archive.

a band which originally started out as a trip hop band who released a couple of well received albums on a major (island records) and then from the casual fan disappeared.

however, the story didn't end there. the band changed personal, regrouped, and somehow released a third album, 'you all look the same to me' on hangman records.

the packaging was wonderful, so whenever the album was in the bargain bins i always looked and wondered exactly what the record would sound like. eventually, curiosity got the better of me.

so i cracked the seal on the cd and read the notes. the album consists of 7 tracks, 2 of which are over 16 minutes, and the rest never fall below 5 !

hmmm. something had changed.

within the thank you notes i think there is a clue. 'dave gilmour'. having listened to the awesome 16 minute opener, 'again', recently, the debt to pink floyd is hugely obvious.

the slow build up, the use of sci-fi production, the swelling hammond organ riffs, the timeless epic nature of the music makes this rather special. gone are the trip hop timestamps, gone are the girl vocals, cliched raps, and instead the band have stepped aside from the usual chart bound musics.

the rest of the album has nods towards more experimental noises (ambient, industrial soundscapes are often referenced in the sonic detail), showing that they had a desire to delve into machine based extras alongside their grandiose mix of talk talk and massive attack.

basically, if you see this album looking lonely in the sales racks, i cannot stress enough how you should give this album a try.

so to tease you some more, and to celebrate ireallylovemusic getting a chunkier chunk of webspace, here is the full length version of 'again' : here

kick back, relax, open a magazine and let this slice of excellence help you drift off.

oh, and to finish off. the band are still going. just that no-one uk-side seems to be interested as their latest album has been released on the french division of warners, with no definite plan to release the record locally. so head over to the bands site and practise your french.

thank you.

mark e

ireallylovemusic