Hands up from everyone who has said "If only Robert Miles would ditch the light and fluffy Dream House and try his hand at some weird, James Bond influenced Trip Hop with enough creepy background noises to make you wet your pants. No hands?I thought not.
On first listen you may find yourself checking the spine of the jewel case to ensure you really are listening to a Robert Miles album. This album has only slight ties to his first two albums, Dreamland, and 23 AM. In those albums
Robert Miles painted a sprawling landscape bursting with joy and light. There were occasional moments of darkness, but they were mostly there as the antithesis to the joy. In Organik, Miles has tossed aside the clouds
and whales and brought forth the rain and the snakes.
I won't bore you with a complete track by track run down, but I do want to comment on the majority of them.
Tsbol - I instantly thought James Bond when I first heard this song. You have the haunting piano, warbling winds, sly strings, and sharp percussion. Don't be surprised to hear this track during the opening sequence of the next Bond flick. In all, not a bad opening track. It sets the mood and the listener is warned that this is something new and different. My advice, sit back and enjoy the ride at least once before asking to be let off.
Separation - This really sounds nothing like a Robert Miles track (not many tracks on this album do). It sounds more like Orbital, but has some hard electric guitar layered in here and there. It's really a quite
interesting listen. It's a sound that hasn't really been explored much in the electronic music scene. There have been some experiments in the past (check out the Spawn soundtrack), but we have certainly never heard this
from Mr. Miles.
Paths - Wait a minute. What is this Frankenstein? We have Portishead style vocals, a drum & bass breakdown (yes, really), and an Indian instrument called the Sarangi. The Sarangi actually makes 3 appearances on this album. I enjoy listening to this instrument. It posesses that twangy groan that draws you in and lets you concentrate on the drums. Kudos to Miles for expanding his sound. Unfortunately the track is over before you can get into it. Perhaps this will come out as a single with an
extended mix. The album version just really isn't long enough at slightly under 4 mintues.
Wrong - Ugh, I don't care for this at all. Wailing electric guitar that just goes on and on over the top of some simple drumming and strings. Pull the guitar and this would be a nice mellow track. Leave the guitar in and
I'm forced to tear hair from my head with one hand while reaching for the skip button on the remote with the other. There is definitely something Wrong with this 5 minute torture test - at least he got the title right.
Release Me - The Sarangi makes another appearance here. I think it adds a lot more to this track because it gets to be a main focus rather than the side effect, as was the case in Paths. I still can't get over how much hard guitar is in this album. The bass guitars give it a go here. I like them a little better :) Very nice track overall.
Improvisations P.1 and P.2 - Light some candles and assume your meditation positions. It's time to chill out. These tracks would be perfect when you come home from the club or a hard day at work. P.2 speeds up a little more, but continues the experimental flavor. If you like these two tracks you may want to check out some DJ Spooky stuff.
Final Advice
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Do not buy this album because you liked the Dream House tracks put out by Robert Miles in the past. Do buy this because you respect Robert Miles as an artist and wish to participate in his journey to unheard lands of sound.
Tech Specs
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Album Length -- 63:52
Tracks -- 12
Released on Shakti Records -- 72438-50956-2-7
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