Customer Reviews

Afterhours v.2

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Global Underground is a label that constantly reminds us there can be "club music" that doesnt insult the listener's intelligence. Au contraire!

Aside of the fact that the so called "club music" has been associated with some of the most commercial and uninspired electronic music, one has to realise that this has been a choice of clueless DJs and not a necessity.

This label has offered a very convincing alternative. And it has been so with remarkable consistency quite some time now.

Being that this is a limited release you should urgently get it unless you want to miss out on one of the most significant releases in the electronica field in recent time.

It contains 2 CDs and a DVD. The music presented here is some of the most exciting and grounbreaking acts the label has to offer in some of their most intriguing moments. It's the music Global Underground is reknown for: dark, heavily atmospheric, intimidating, inspiring, spacey...But abobe all, intelligent.

If there was a SETI project for music it would surely detect this great label amongst its first findings.

The DVD that accompanies the very carefully (and with much gusto) assembled set is a worthy companion of the albums. Five videos faithful to the style that dominates the music, a modern optic experience in its own.

What needs to be said for those not familiar with G.U is that the music ranges from experimental electronica to house, but, within this range, anything you'll discover here is fresh, there's new ideas abound, cliches are avoided ruthlessly.

As difficult as it might be for the usually mindless crowds that pack the clubs just as rewarding it is for those that want their music to be a step ahead and to stimulate their minds.
Dont miss this.

You don't have to pop a pill, chew nasty fungus or snort anything up your nose to feel like you are trippin' a mile above earth... this CD will do it for you. All I can say is CCCCCRRREEEEEEPPPPPYYYY.... I am not sure if I like it yet, I got it yesterday so I will have to listen more. CD2 is more appealing to my taste.

Talk about dark. They should have called it After AFTER hours. It goes from lazy, to a sort of dramatic mourning feel, then a little sexiness... and for the most part the whole thing just sounds kind of EVIL. I just picture someone laying on the floor in a drug haze, spiraling down the rabbit hole. Either that or people sitting at 8AM in silence at a club with a wicked grin, bobbing to the beat.

It is definitely unique... totally moody tunes...I would borrow it from a friend before you buy though to make sure it is something you would dig.

It also comes with a clubbing DvD which is pretty fun. I love watching and listening.

Picture yourself at 10am, driving home from the club, most likely a high energy night. You want to keep the vibe going but you've had enough of the hard hitting trance and in-your-face breaks for one majestic night. What to do? The AfterHours series was created for this reason, and they did a damn good job. So, before ingesting yet another capsule make sure to pop in your AfterHours CD (no pun intendend). BTW: If you're sober now, this CD brings you back to those majestic nights.

Afterhouse vol.2 is a masterpiece - no doubt. I am one of the lucky owners of the first instalment of this series, created by the award-winning GlobalUnderground label, with one of the side projects that generally go pretty much un-noticed, face of the mainstream releases by the UK-based label.

The first volume of the serie, was a revelation, and still is one of my favorite records, even after a few years - a real trip trhough the Afterhours of a post-pill warehouse club in West London, or Barcelona, or Berlin, or maybe even Ibiza, but not on the mainstream track...

With volume two the trip is not over - from ambient to trance, from tech beat to distant fading voices, electro moodz popping over discerned beats, everything coming out of the darkest corner of your soul. This is a pulse for wandering minds, leave your body behind and let the sounds take your mind through an hipnotic trip `till daylight. You still fill like dancing? No problem, you'll be jumping around too, if you feel you have to do something more than keep nogging your head to the beat - but fast, before the trip fades back to grey =)

Volume one starts with melodies growing and merging with waves, distant voices, minimal beats, to explode in an electronic glory by track number 5, where 7 Hurtz starts a ride that eventually folds back a few track later into an ipnotic ambient scheme provided by Boards of Canada, Aloof and Burnt Friedman, that surprisingly but organically melts with Roxie Music that flows into Tricky - wow - and the end of disc one is still very far, with an epic ride through electronica, beats and finally dreamscapes again, provided by The Forth, Trafik, and The Album Leaf.

Disk two of the Afterhours record is even better, as in the style of Global Underground, that pushes more underground with disc two of all its releases. As in Afterhours Volume one, the ambience is already set, and the ride goes even more psychedelic - it all starts pretty statically with U.N.K.L.E., but goes immedially dub with Colder's One Night in Tokyo, perfect intro to a dubby set that will have your mind travel (and your body move) to the grooves of Cottonbelly, Primal Scream, Dub Chemist and Rockers Hi-fi, before diving again in a spacey electro texture that will swift you away, until the moment when the monolithic sinths of "Fade to grey" from Visage will break through the hipnotic beats provided by Dominic Eulberg - another of that moments in time when your smile will pop up, even if your eyes are closed.

From there on is electro hipnotic textures again, but this time well supported by electro beatz (Psychonauts, Telefon Tel Aviv).... and then it happens again! An acappella from Closer Musik reveals as a complex minimal tech tune, perfect fit for the epic ending provided by Sinner DC and Subside vs. Beanfield. Wow, gotta put it on again..... =)

By the way, the packaging comes with a DVD - a few experimental videos that will add more depth to the work of art provided by this secon volume of Afterhours - I deeeeeply suggest you to buy it, and also get Volume one - and, if you are still in the mood for some quality ambient electronica, I suggest also the other side (and equally forgotten) series by Global Underground: Electric Calm (volume one is far more interesting than volume two, but the latter is not bad anyway). Enjoy the dreamscape!

Ok this is a great dark trancy cd that flows through ambience, house and eventually takes you off into space at the end of the second disc. Weird strange vocals that fit the mood perfectly. On my cd it says there are 20 songs on the second disc but i only found 19. Strange. Fits the album though. Very Euphoric and spins you through different time periods all while making old and new sounds as fresh as any global underground release. LIke you thought GU would let you down. Not in my lifetime. Enjoy!

Afterhours 2 contains big tracks by major electronic (and some, not so electronic) artists. What is interesting, is that this double album has a general sad mood.
Disc 1 gives you an introduction to dark ambient, including a timeless masterpiece by boards of canada, Roxy Music (!) and Tricky. Very emotional. Some tracks remind me the "Force Tracks" ambient era.
Disc 2 goes from trip-hop to electronic dance music, with some dark tinges.
Afterhours 2 has marked a hiatus with my electronic music taste. Now I'm trying to find moody but "intelligent" artists. I don't like dance music or progressive anymore. And that's a step forward, for me.

I would call this alternative music. Not in the sense that it is heavy, industrial or otherwise socially subversive, but in the sense that it is, especially at first listen, rather odd, peculiar and just plain weird. But that is its charm and the weirdness is only because we too often think in genres or categories. These are difficult to label and because there is such an array of diversity on here it is impossible to categorize this in any particular way.

Just like the first Afterhours CD this one takes a mix of disparate artists from across the spectrum and mixes them into one continuous groove. But this is not like most DJ mixes where the intent is to take the listener toward some kind of climax. It's kind of got a drifting, dreamy "afterhours" kind of feel, a fitting title for the album.

Someone mentioned that this is creepy. I thought so too at first. Maybe I've gone over to the dark side but after listening to this over and over again I find it to really settle me down into a reflective mood, appreciative of the stranger things in life. In other words, this album makes me think.

This one isn't as moody or brooding as the first though overall the dreamy atmosphere is more consistent. Though there are no standout songs such as Bola's "Pae Paoe" or Brooklyn Funk Essentials' "I Got Cash" somehow a hodgepodge of artists such as UNKLE, Boards of Canada, Roxy Music, Trafik and Tricky are woven together in a way that works. It's perfect for those frames of mind when you just wish to drift a little and not be boxed into one artist or one style of music that won't hold your wandering mind.

Afterhours 3 is slated for release in early 2007. Can't wait.

By the way, CD 3 of Steve Lawler's "Viva" takes the feel of this album (and a few tracks from it) and goes into new territories. I highly recommend that one as well.

This is a very unique set, perfectly suited for those early morning chill out sessions after the clubs.....and equally as good while driving at night. Both CDs are quite good, however CD1, in my opinion, is the real highlight of this set. Standout tracks from CD1 include: Sissy - I See You; Boxsaga - Steppin'; Roxy Music - In Every Dream Home a Heartache; and the whole series of tracks that begins with Tricky - Hollow and ends with the sublime Green Ice mix of Trafik's Surrender. This is where disc one should have ended in my opinion, but The Album Leaf - Over the Pond is a decent closer. Hauntingly beautiful disc from start to finish.

CD2 is a different story. It just doesn't hit me in the same way. The vibe is a bit more bubbly and less low-key, in my opinion. The tracks are solid enough, but nothing all that compelling. The only standout that really caught my attention was Visage's Fade to Grey. Compared to the first disc, this one is a bit of a disappointment. I was hoping for more. All in all a solid release from the GU boys, and a great addition to any electronic collection.

Warning - this album set is VERY VERY chill. Spacy, ambient and minimal. The DVD seems to be a lot of what looks like "stock" footage looped and pulsed to the beat. Very stroby. I say play the DVD video but listen to something else for audio. The CD's themselves would be best suited when you're trying to fall asleep after a long night/morning of partying. Lot's of tracks, but each one is fairly short.

A must have of every house muxic fan. Ultra smooth mixes and an great track selection make this CD one to oun.