Wednesday, 16 June 2010 20:06

Album Review: UNKLE - "Where Did The Night Fall"

Written by Drael
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The UNKLE duo did some kick ass ninja-tune stuff back in the day along with DJ Shadow who was once in the band, as some of you may remember. And admittedly they have struggled to find a new sound direction since then. Here, we see a venture into the realm of slightly indie vocal stylings, mixed with a much more organic sound.

The electronic composition, is well, it's not exactly like the old ninja-tunes stuff. Its similarly heavy on organic sounds, but there aren't really any breaks here. The bit of guitar really adds to the organic sound also, and the drums, while programmed, are all the real sounding kind - A very rolling, upbeat, rocky, almost tribal rhythm. Very different from their older stuff.

The vocalist in “Follow me down” sounds a lot like Bjork before she got too crazy, a very good vocal, and this track with its rolling rhythm, bass and the voice is probably one of the best ones on the album.

I found “Natural selection” a little odd. The vocal is very Indie sounding, reminiscent of the alternative scene in the 80’s, or some obscure kiwi bands. Just not my thing.

But even though “Joy factory” is sort of Indie sounding vocals too, this one works for me. It sounds psychedelic-ish, and I love the “droplet” keyboard sounds a lot.

“The Answer” reminds me quite a bit of polyphonic spree, or flaming lips in parts.

My personal favorites: “Follow me down”, “On a wire” - which is a similar kind of upbeat and indie vocals track, “The Answer”, and “The Healing” which has some very nice big melodic builds, that with an almost progressive rock vocal and rolling rhythm works very nicely for a sense of emotion/gravity.

One has to admire the composition of the music itself, which doesn’t feel electronic really at all much, despite some sonic range and other electronic qualities. And the beats, while they sound like drums, are really far too intricate for a live drummer. This is a pretty good background/listening album, I think, which, instrumentally/musically is quite accessible. So over all not bad. There are problems however. It’s really slightly more Indie than what one would expect (or perhaps like!)

Its not as arty/sound-based, nor as soulful/deep as flying lotus' or massive attack's new ones (although soul wise it has its moments), and the beat style is something else altogether from what you might expect from UNKLE. It’s great rhythm work, but its more rock based than funky. But there are some excellent tracks in here, and those I‘ll continue to listen to for sure, and it is an innovative fusion of sounds as well, but yeah, not impressive as an album overall, in my opinion, more on the stand-out tracks. But then, that might to some degree be an issue of taste, given Indie and such aren't really my thing.

 

Last modified on Wednesday, 16 June 2010 20:30

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