by: sdriver (Thu Jul 20 '00)
Pros: Dig those beats
Cons: Spy camp?
‘Take California’ - "Begin to eat the dust of Baja California", all sliced
and
scratched to hell...groovy bass riff kicks it off, hit the break and kick
the
groovy drum beats. Awww yeah. Man, I heard this and I was sure I had a
winner. It's so nice to type this stuff while grooving along back and forth
in
my chair. Once again, awww yeah. Real sounding drum beats over the
opening bass riff loop. Cool as hell. After awhile the bass riff is
accompanied by a guitar sounding instrument, a thick duet, along with
some funky block percussion. Add the ”take California" sample, possibly
Lex Luthor from one of the Superman flicks. Damned groovy with some
really cool breaks. One of those tunes that you've really just got to dance
to, even gets the old butt dance going in the car. A solid tune. Not a
lot of
change but there's enough going on in the upper ambient atmosphere to
keep me interested over those awesome beats. Not drum and bass, but
drum and groove, if you will. Some cool keyboard solos around the 6:40
mark that glide over the break quite nicely.<P>
‘Velvet Pants’ - "What's different Pete about the 69 that makes it so exciting
to you/2000 people in a seething, roiling mass..." and so on. I dig their
samples. Cool stuff from movies and tv that fits. "we hustled our way
in/everybody had long hair", more samples...and they say right out in the
mix that "it's groovy"..."he's got a nice body/he's wearing velvet pants"
cool
stuff. Solid groove, mellow with real piano elements looped in, real
sounding drum kit. Hey man, I know its not a real kit but it sure sounds
real.
Who the hell can tell anymore? It's like saying "genuine imitation leather".
Makes for cool live shows, though. Big switch from the straight out groove
at the 2:42 mark, pulsing bass track, horn strikes, same tempo, real frenetic
feel...but I continue to groove since the samples are in the same time
as the
original tempo. Rip, the original groove is back by 3:40, with some
saw-toothed keyboard action, restrained sonically but allowed to rip. A
break, more samples, then back to the original groove. I'm doing the car
butt dance right here on my folding chair. Aww yeah. Fun stuff. Almost
a
jazzy feel, but up-tempo. I'm diggin' this stuff so
far...
‘Better?’ - Fat, slow tempo, soul groove style stuff. Big drums, no real
thick
bass yet. Break, then the groove continues. Medium groove, the track has
the same flavor as "Mr. President" from Meat Beat Manifesto's Armed
Audio Warfare.
‘360° (Oh Yeah?)’ Featuring De La Soul - Opens with a loop of someone
rollerblading on a half pipe, from one speaker to the other. Enter a hip-hop
mellow groove and a fat rap by De La Soul, a long way from the "Me,
Myself and I" days. Here we are in the middle of a break/techno/drum &
bass joint and we groove into a hip-hop tune. Fat bass keyboards with
some jazz organ added in, and the raps are pretty decent. The thrashing
continues from time to time, from channel to channel. Pretty cool.
Hey...sounds like live bass from a real bass guitar. Enter into the groove
some madly tripped and wah-wahhed saw-tooth keyboards. Interesting.
‘History Repeating’ (Featuring Miss Shirley Bassey) - Ooh...fat keyboard
licks in the opening...enter the sultry voice of Miss Shirley Bassey for
an
intro, then kick the jazz groove right on out. I Really dig the vocals,
I really
dig the groove and the horn section. Hmm...from hip-hop to jazz vocals.
This album is most definitely a trip thus far. Sort of like watching a
variety
show on television. Or one of those World's Deadliest Swarm thingies you
see on FOX from time to time...maybe this would be World's Deadliest
Grooves or something. Sheesh, she's got a really cool voice, and she
sounds like she's having fun. I'm all over the horns. Cool tune.
‘Winning Style’ - "George, get set for a mind blowing afternoon," "attention
class A drivers...you have 15 minutes to qualify". Nice and easy groove,
they might be real drums. Wacky feeling keyboard riff, looped, sounds like
xylophones, becomes the hook. Add some jazzy keyboards, then some
steamy jazz organs. I'm diggin' this track too. Fat drums, cool keyboards,
medium tempo. You've got yourself some jazz here, but groovy jazz a-la
The Beastie Boys. Yeah, I come from a world of odd musical influences.
I
know, I make some odd comparisons. Just check out some of their
instrumental tracks and you'll know what I'm talkin' about. But I digress.
They really are switching stuff up on us...makes me really curious as to
what they'd be like live. The track has a shiny, bright sheen to it, feels
squeaky clean, like a polished chrome bumper. Neat like a freshly mowed
lawn.
'Bang On!' - This track stands out from a production standpoint. We open
with a sample of someone talking about all the machinery in front of
them...they're trying out buttons. When they try pressing the third button,
all
hell breaks loose and the track launches with the sound of a tripped-out
keyboard blowing into the groove. Definitely live drums, real bass and
electric guitar go all berzerk in a balls out groove to the finish. Interspersed
with a few well placed "bang on" samples. Flies out of the stereo at
blistering speed. 2:45, enter some really well placed keyboard loops, left
to solo at the 3:08 mark, when it sounds like it's really tricked-out guitar.
Break at 3:35 for an intense bass solo with high hat, add the tripno
keyboard, then guitar. What we have here is one cool trypnoelectronica
rock & roll jam to the death. I'm impressed.
‘A Number Of Microphones’ - "let's here now an example of correct
microphone placing" followed by some microphone beat-box freestyle a la
The Fat Boys
‘On Her Majesty's Secret Service’ - Opens with some mad horn flourishes
from channel to channel, then some keyboard morse code stuff. Add the
big horn section and some James Bond guitar. Then the groove. I didn't
see the latest Bond flick but I'm willing to bet this is on the soundtrack.
The
groove is pretty much like that of the first track of the album, steamier
and
with more density of sound - and oh - add those horns. Not just horns but
a
whole orchestra over the groove...I am so very there. The groove kind of
dies off into the mix and for awhile the horns are featured, then the groove
returns with added elements. Then the orchestra comes back more
powerful than before. I'm doing that whole car butt dance here in my
uncomfortable folding chair. Awesome track, cranked way up. Break at
4:43, gets real quiet, slowly, the orchestra adds elements, builds in
intensity, oh this is great. 5:21 they add some beats, soft and slow with
the
orchestra which is real as hell. Slowly building in waves, each wave more
powerful...builds to climax and suddenly the orchestra tape rips then twists
then slows then bang - the bass groove is back, solos, then the drums kick
in with some organs in the mix, keyboards. 7:30, the orchestra is up and
yours truly is dancing, standing and typing at the same time. If only I
had
one of those digital video camera thingies…
‘Spybreak!’ - Apparently they hadn't gotten all of their spy ya-ya's out
with
track #9. They had to come back for more. Pretty cool, straight out drum
and groove track. Has a keyboard track that really takes me back to the
Spy Hunter video game. I used to really dig that game, with all those cool
power ups and the machine guns in the front of the car with unlimited
ammo...and if you got real far and kept taking the roads that went to the
left,
your car switched to a boat. That was cool. I really dug the missile power
up. By far the most effective was the oil slick, which seemed to last
forever...but I digress. It really is a spy track, with all those suave,
cliche spy
song elements that we all know and love. And it really glistens with sound,
the track really sounds alive, like it's a live recording or something.
Some
really good mastering going on.
‘You Want It Back’ (Featuring Jungle Brothers) - Starts off slow and almost
sinister, brings up a hip-hop drum track, someone is talking in the
background. Then slowly and almost imperceptibly, the drums get slowly
faster. You think it's happening and at first you're not sure and you think
of
how cool it would be if the drums really were slowly and almost
imperceptibly faster and you realize that they are and you find yourself
typing really long sentences that could be run on sentences but it doesn't
matter because the faster the drums go, the faster I type (and I'll end
the
sentence now for God's sake...). Oh is this a great tune. Really cool
high-speed hectic raps over an up-tempo beat. Yeah, at first I bailed during
the first part...but I returned to witness the grooviness. I don't know
what the
hell they're talking about, something like "sexy lover/smokin' with
passion"...you really have to stick with this one, turns out pretty cool.
That
beginning drum speed up thing is a really cool opening. Great track.
A really good album. Really mixes a lot of different styles into a decent
flow. And the production is great. The mixing and the mastering have
resulted in a really bright, vibrant mix. Oh, and did I mention how much
I dug
the track "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"? I really dug that track. On
the
whole, it was a really groovy adventure, up tempo without the dark angle
that tends to be the way attitude is conveyed in this style of music.
Toughandsexyandhooky
by: michael_tremko (Fri Dec 24 '99)
Pros: Late night party music
Cons: Neighbors
The Propellerheads have a very easy to like style, kind of like the
Chemical Brothers. The bass is phattt and low, the hooks would make
Britny Spears dance, and it's got a fun bubblegum thing going on there.
This would be a great album to play on the way to the club if you are in
the
mood for a fun night.
They have a couple of spy movie theme songs on this album, which you'll
be able to pick out as soon as they come on. Very James Bond-ish.
They're bouncy, complex, and really upbeat.
The songs don't really range far and wide, they stay in a very similar
groove. They're mostly written in major keys, very 4/4, with a little
syncopation. It makes for a great party record. Since there's no time
signature changes, this would be a very easy record for a DJ to work into
a
set.
It's a little more mellow than most of the music I listen to, and it's
far more
upbeat than the heavy metal fare I grew up on, but that's an absolutely
great thing when it comes to going out for the night with the ladies.
If you like the Propellerheads, you might also be interested in Plastikman,
Daft Punk, The Crystal Method, or The Chemical Brothers.
Recommend to other potential buyers? Yes
Recommended as a gift for: Entertainment_Junkies
t's Smoove n' Devlicious
by: thecommuter (Sun Jun 18 '00)
Pros: clever samples, tasteful remixes, rump shakin'
diddies
Cons: do i hafta give a con?....well, if i hafta, it sounds
like the prop-boys are holding back ;)
I first got a taste of the Propellerheads from The Matrix. "Spybreak!"
is the
music that is pulsing through your body during the sequence where our
heroes, Neo and Trinity, are blasting their way through the ground-level
security in order to save their leader, Morpheous. Wow! What a rush.
"Spybreak!" is one of many well crafted tracks on Decksanddrums.
I hesitate to call it techno since the album spans several flavors of music.
Jazz, soul, hiphop and a healthy mix of samples form a lot of their sound.
With remixes of James Bond's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and
Shirely Bassey's (who lent her voice to the Moonraker theme) "History
Repeating" and the(again) "Spybreak!" track, the Propellerheads have
spun a sweet sounding spy motif into the CD.
If you like shakin' your booty, I highly recommend this CD. Afterall, a
pair of
UK mix-heads that sample Bill Cosby ("Velvet Pants") gotta have
something going for them.
Compare it to Artist's Discography: An essential album
Great Music to Play While: Getting ready to go out
Recommended as a gift for: Trendsetters
mm.. good cooking.
by: neobazz (Mon Mar 27 '00)
Pros: great electronica
Cons: rap and hip hop on a track or two
from the hit single on the matrix "spybreak" to "take california", this
cd is
loaded with great tracks. groovy tunes can keep you entertained for hours.
it has everything. starting out with good ol' electronica on "take california",
by the end of the cd it varies tempos, works in hip hop and rap (not that
i
normally like that, however, the propeller heads make it all good), even
some non-instrumental songs. the cd is great for long car rides or for
studying for a math test (actually, im getting a d, what would i know...)
or just
chillin like a villian. i would recommend this cd to anyone that likes
the
chemical brothers or meat beat manifesto. two thumbs up.
Recommend to other potential buyers? Yes
Recommended as a gift for: Trendsetters