Yeah, part of me digs these electro comps, in the same way I used to dig the 50¢ "grab bags" at the Elementary school fair. Sure, most times the 50 cents only got me a bag full of cockroaches, but sometimes I got a partially- eaten peanut butter cup with my cockroaches, and that sure did feel lucky! In that respect, it could be said that 90% of electro comps are just bags fulla cockroaches, and Earthrise: Back 2 the Beat is no different.

Issued by Shadow Records, Earthrise bears a sticker telling me to file it under "trip-hop/big Beat." Already a distressing sign. Not only are the two genres as night and day as you can probably get, but it concerns me when a disc suggests that you file it under a subgenre that hasn't even existed very long. In actuality, Earthrise seems to collect a series of mediocre Shadow tracks with no common ground, either musically or conceptually. There are a few tracks that could certainly fall under "Big Beat" classification, and Anthea's "I Wish" would explain the "trip-hop" part, but that's where the logic of this comp ends.

I've been listening to this record for over two weeks now, and little of it stands out. There are few worthy breaks, precious little musical creativity and certainly no groundbreaking moments. The only standout track is "Science Friction" by Nano-Hed. The rest lacks the energy to maintain interest, or lays down loops that quickly traverse the line between merely repetitive and actually annoying.

For those of you who doubt, I provide the artists: Fugitive Elf, the 13th Sign, Natural Blond Killaz, Yada Yada, Mr. Electric Triangle and the aforementioned Nano-Hed and Anthea. Earthrise is not mixed continuously, preferring to give the listener precious moments of silence between its laboriously mediocre cuts. I appreciate that. Still, it's no partially- eaten peanut butter cup. Alright, I gotta book. Been eating my bag of cockroaches and now I gotta go downstairs to get a toothpick- wing caught between my teeth.

-James P. Wisdom