From Rodney Perkins Sent Fri, Dec 11th 1998, 14:44
From Rodney Perkins Sent Fri, Dec 11th 1998, 14:44
I picked up the Grooverider CD yesterday and found it to be "groovy." I find some of the jazzy touches (trumpet skronks) annoying as they seem tacked on. Roni Size does the jazz thing quite well but this seems a little too contrived. Also the shifts between the champagne/coffeeshop jungle and the obviously Optical injected rinse outs is kind of schizo. >> Is "Mysteries of Funk" actually any good? > >I like it quite a bit. Only one track, "Where's Jack the Ripper," really >hits that Optical peak though. Of the rest, "Cybernetic Jazz" and "C Funk" >are still excellent. I didn't really mind the vocals on "Prototype Years" >(I'm not saying they stood out by any means), and there are a few tracks >here with that same sort of housey, fusion-soaked sound -- two with female >vocals, plus Cleveland Watkiss on another. The whole album compares to >Adam F's "Colours" quite well -- though the breaks themselves are quite >different, both albums go back and forth between quiet storm/fusion type >backing and the really dark stuff. Of course, with the credits -- "All >tracks written by Grooverider/Optical, all tracks produced by >Grooverider/Optical" -- it makes you wonder who's doing what... > > >> The double cd only seems to have two exclusives, unless >> tracks have been truncated. > >If it helps anyone figure out possible differences between versions, below >are the track times for my 1-CD British version. Several of the >four-minute tracks could easily be edits... > >Grooverider / Mysteries of Funk (1-CD UK): > >Cybernetic Jazz (9:10) >Rainbows of Colour (4:17) >On the Double (4:01) >Time & Space (7:11) >Where's Jack the Ripper? (8:07) >Fly With Me (1:56) >C Funk (7:41) >Imagination (parts 1 & 2) (8:25) >Rivers of Congo (6:58) >Imagination (part 3) (4:55) >560 (5:40) >Starbase23 (8:27) >Rainbows of Colour (Heaven's Breath) (0:17) >