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| TRACKLIST |
| 1. Valves. . . . . . . . . . . . . .4:54 2. Estarlay . . . . . . . . . . . .10:48 3. Mama 6 Pt.1. . . . . . . . . . .21:22 4. Latneiro (Woobs Sunrise Dub) . .15:19 5. Mama 6 Pt.2. . . . . . . . . . .13:02 6. 3001 (Edit). . . . . . . . . . .13:31 |
U.K. producer Paul Frankland is best known for his recordings as Woob for the popular Nottingham-based ambient dub label Em:t Recordings. Frankland is also signed to Ninja Tune subsidiary Ntone as Journeyman, a project that has produced a pair of full-length recordings to date. Mama 6, the first of those, was among Ntone's first releases; available only on CD, it featured a heady blend of alternately house-y and downtempo beats, lush electronics, and quixotic samples, and it quickly went out of print... ~ by Sean Cooper, AMG
Every once in a while the subject of Woob pops up here. Woob is similar to another project by Paul Frankland, called Journeyman. Another person, Colin Waterton helps out occasionally with Journeyman material. Mama 6 definitely represents an intriguing stage of ambient tech-know with this restless full-length. The pieces all sound fairly different from each other, while each of them sort of continually heightens until reaching a point of more lively, even danceable activity. It took some prodding to get the label to finally send me this record, which came several months after my initial request, but it was certainly worth the wait.
Valves/Estarlay:
The first tones on this CD are dark, ominous, and foreboding. Random television and radio scraps of foreign dialogue and middle eastern strings circulate around. This intro is much in the same style as the first Woob record. Warped pulsations filter in, no coherent rhythms, just layers of the various echoing sounds. Definitely wooby. A pigeon is heard. At 4.5 minutes, a bell tolls, and then the first airy chords of music. The other sounds continue. A man speaks, "Where the Sam hell 'djew come from...?" "Cambridge," another answers. More sounds of commotion. Gunfire, an uprising? Things seem to be somehow tangentially related to the JFK assassination in Dallas, Texas. I feel like I'm watching a film. Then again, Frankland material tends to have that soundtracky effect. One of the two men is named Mr. Livingston. "You were in Dallas to hear the president's speech I take it." Halfway into Esterlay brings a gentle bassdrum. Chimes and a pulsed bassline, very rich and filled-out sound quality. The snare that eventually rolls in is indicative of the positive atmosphere of some '93-'94 Chicago area flyer parties. Nostalgia, i suppose... ahh the days of Miles Meada and Mystic Bill pumping out the newest chunky dance beatz. Where have the years gone? Anyway, a nice loop of an acoustic bass joins in. More filmic excerpts. Background talk of the future century. For the outro, we get back to the acoustic loop, this time at half speed. Esterlay is a good opener and an excellent example of building up the music, sound by sound, as the song goes on.
Mama 6 (Parts 1 & 2):
If you thought a Baptist female chorus couldn't be effectively used in an ambient context, think again. Frankland uses these and descriptive segments of dialogue from Tron mixed with a blend of synthe sounds to create a futuresque landscape. "We can't *get* to the MCP without the help of *my* user..." A retropolyrhythmic loop fades in at about 5.5 minutes. Sounds of the mission control terminal drop in every now and then. Then everything gets more musical. A pleasant, sub-dance-paced groove, nothing fancy, just a solid dance loop. Another voice speaks of idealistic predictions of the future, being able to physically project dreams on screen. By the time the first half of the album is over, Journeyman takes us from impending doom and conspiracy to Disney humor and sci-fi environments. Not bad, and the overall effect is interesting. Percussion comes back in toward the end of the piece, now considerably faster 4otF bpm. Also mixed in is a synthe riff that reminds me of Megatonk's "Belgium" (remember the 2nd Excursions Comp?!). Part 2 is a bit slower bpm-wise, but structurally similar and the same loops are used. These tracks are great if only for the Jeff Bridges samples ;-)
Latneiro (Woobs Sunrise Dub) was included on a compilation, though I can't seem to recall the name of it. This one is aptly named and would do better in the morning, as the title suggests. Also, this is the only track on the album without a darker side to it.
3001 (edit):
I can only say that this is kind of dubby, 604, and reggae all at once. A nice deep bassline. Gets real watery and spacey in the middle until yet another quick dance loop is tunneled into it. More starship-chamber environment sounds. Then the haunted dub becomes a haunted house. ~ by Noah
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