Various Artists
Earthrise: Back 2 the Beat
[Shadow]
Rating: 3.8
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