No one's got time to read in-depth reviews of everything. '100 Word Reviews' is here so you can know just enough about everything to make an informed decision.
You'll find that all the reviews at '100 Word Reviews' are 100% accurate - on word count, that is - actual opinions may vary.
If you've got anything to say, or something you want me to review, just drop me a line at 100wordreviews.net@gmail.com
It’s a real shame to see the bastion of 90s hard dance fade like this. Listening to a Prodigy album these days is like playing kick-to-kick with your uncle who still thinks he’s in the South Melbourne reserve squad. The game’s moved on, but they’re still trying to keep up. You really the feel the 12 years since ‘The Fat of the Land’. They used to be right out in front, but now that mantle’s shifted to younger bands like Pendulum. ‘Run with the Wolves’ impresses somewhat, but that’s only because it’s built around a great Dave Grohl drum track.
Kutiman is an audio-visual mash-up artist. And he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen or heard. In ‘Thru You’ he’s scoured YouTube in search of videos that he’s sampled and looped to create his tracks. Most of his tracks are made up of over 20 individual source videos: from school recitals, to tutorial videos, to people just showing off. It’s hard to imagine how much effort would have gone into creating these. This guy is pushing the boundaries of what is considered a musician. I’d recommend starting with “Mother of all Funk Chords” and working through the whole collection.
I’m all for bands finding a sound that works for them and sticking with it, but when every song on an entire album sounds exactly the same, you know they’ve taken it too far. That’s the problem with ‘Partie Traumatic’. I bought this album because I’d seen the potential in “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You”. But aside from that track and “Hurricane Jane”, this really could have been a singles disc of remixes. If you want something like this, but better, you could do a lot worse than ‘Perfect Distraction’ by Something With Numbers.
I didn’t hear this album until the start of 2008 (it was released August ’07) and it ended up being just about my favourite album from the whole year. I love the seamless threading of modern Australian hip-hop with the smooth ‘60s beats and endless samples. My favourite track would have to be “I Know a Place”; a funked-up, progressive disco beat, with some great sci-fi samples and tasty vocals. Think U.N.K.L.E featuring Shirley Bassey covering KC and the Sunshine Band during a telecast of the moon landing. If you’ve got eclectic music tastes, this is the album for you.
A good album should be like good wine – the longer you keep it, the better it becomes. ‘Oracular Spectacular’, on the other hand, is cheap beer – you’ll always drink it if it’s around, but you’d prefer to be drinking something special. ‘Of Moons, Birds & Monsters’ has the most potential. It’s the only song that doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be something else. This album is basically middle-of-the-road, inoffensive, indie-rock, electro-pop. And when the best thing you can say about an album is that you don’t dislike it, it’s tough to really enjoy it.
