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Midnight in the subway
She's on her way home
She tries hard not to run
But she feels she's not alone
Echoes of footsteps
Follow close behind
But she dare not turn around

Turn around

...

Subway Song - The Cure

Sneak Chamber

Samurai Champloo was a fine series. A 26-episode period piece set in Edo Japan mixed with historical revisionism and plenty of anachronisms. Essentially a modern rendition of the chanbara samurai TV series and movies that were popularized by Kurosawa in post-World War II Japan, Samurai Champloo's fascinating mix of old and new makes it a truly worthwhile anime series. High production values and striking art direction are deftly interwoven throughout, however the piece that left the most significant impression on me was its soundtrack(s).






Performed by Japanese DJ Nujabes and producer Fat Jon, Departure is one of the four(!) albums that comprise the entire soundtrack and is arguably the most consistent out of all of them. Steeped in hip-hop beats, jazz embellishments and electronic textures; Departure is absolutely luscious sonic mix. Sandwiched between the sole two vocal songs on the album "Battlecry" and "Song for the Four Seasons" are a slew of stunning downtempo tunes to mellow out to. "The Space Between Two Worlds" sets off with a sharp and speedy beat before a sun-drenched guitar melody rests in. "Transcendence" picks things with a more urgently paced beat interspersed with jazzy piano accents. The particularly wistful "Mystline" features an odd string sample that beams into the mix intermittently amidst a dreamy piano. Electronic influences are abound in the cyberpunk-stylings of "Genome" with its sparse bass tones and synthesized chanting as the mellow guitars return in the evocative and hypnotically alluring "Aruarian Dance". An addictively chill album that feels strangely nostalgic, it's a very rare instance in which a soundtrack is strong enough to work as a standalone album but Departure has enough clout to pull it off.

Check it out, it's alright by my estimation.

Aruarian Dance
Transcendence
How You Feel

Departure tracklist:

1. Battlecry
2. The Space Between Two Worlds
3. Aruarian Dance
4. Transcendence
5. Mystline
6. 1st Samurai
7. Ole
8. 624 Part 2
9. Genome
10. No Way Back
11. Funkin
12. Stay
13. Chambers
14. Ask
15. How You Feel
16. 624 Part 1
17. Song of the Four Seasons

Late To The Party

I've always thought Massive Attack was an incredibly awesome name for a band. Whenever someone inquires about which particular artists you fancy and you reply with a name like Massive Attack, they're instantly impressed. In retrospect it's perhaps a bit shameful that I haven't been motivated to go and check out their material. I've never been one to shy away from trip-hop, having enjoyed the works of Portishead and the Sneaker Pimps, but seeing what the allure behind Massive Attack was was never a priority. Luckily for the culturally unmotivated, we have friends to do these things for us. I received a copy of their landmark album Mezzanine as a belated birthday gift. Sweet.




Greeted by the stag beetle on the cover, I was eager to tear off the plastic and start listening. I've never actually heard a Massive Attack song prior to getting this album. Well, aside from "Teardrop" which I'm sure has earned plenty of notoriety as the theme song for House. I slipped the orange colored disc into a CD player and dove straight in. An hour or so passes and I'm pretty much floored afterwards. I guess it's no surprise that a band with a badass name like Massive Attack could forge an album that lives up to their title, but it was a little uncanny how fast I was hooked.

The opener "Angel" slowly ramps up with a pulsating drumbeat and an absolutely sinister bass line. Horace Andy, a reggae artist whose career began in the late 1960s, is the first of many voices we hear on the record. His voice creeps in and sits between the drums and bass while steadily escalating and eventually signaling a rush of guitars to crash in. Lovely. "Risingson" follows and maintains the ominous tone established with Massive Attack founding member 3D providing a meandering vocal, perfectly complementing the throbbing and speedy backbeat. The dreamlike and spacey "Exchange" deviates from the more forward sound of the first few numbers and settles on an upright bass while a series of electronics and intermittent strings circle around it. The echoes of vocalist Sara Jay go to work in "Black Milk" as a stark piano delicately contrasts the reverberant drumming. It all just fits together so nicely. None of the tracks feel out-of-place, even in the wake of something unexpected such as the startling Middle-Eastern rhythms of "Inertia Creeps".

I'd go as far to say that I prefer Mezzanine over both Portishead albums. It's not as coarse or distressing which makes for an easier listen. Interestingly enough, both Portishead and Massive Attack (as well as other trip-hop outfits) hail from Bristol, England. I'm curious as to what compels people from that town to devise such sinister grooves. Digressing, Mezzanine has soundly converted me. The texture it evokes and the sheer amount of polish it possesses is something to marvel. It's one of the select albums that can be truly described as sensual.

So a band with an awesome name makes an awesome album. Makes sense.


Mezzanine tracklist:

1. Angel
2. Risingson
3. Teardrop
4. Inertia Creeps
5. Exchange
6. Dissolved Girl
7. Man Next Door
8. Black Milk
9. Mezzanine
10. Group Four
11. (Exchange)