Customer Reviews

Album Formerly Known As

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Detroit's Carl Craig (and we do consider him one of us, in so very many ways) has outdone himself, literally, by re-working his Detroit Techno classic album, 'Landcruising', in this brilliantly ethereal release. Some of the renewed tracks--e.g. the sparsely hypnotic "A Wonderful Life"--remain virtually un-touched; others, such as the driving trilogy of "Landcruising", "One Day Soon", and the Detroit classic, "Home Entertainment", are exquisitely crafted into something at once familiar and yet utterly fresh. The album maintains the core brilliance of 'Landcruising' (the album which this one is was formerly known as), yet Craig masterfully reconfigures the narrative, allowing formerly obscure scenery to shine in the radiant light of a new day. "Sparkle", which was not on the original, embodies this bold new vision herein. A true masterpiece, per usual, considering the source. Keep up the good work and buy this album!!! Truly a must-have for the Detroit Techno aficionado.

Carl Craig's name has almost become synonymous with Detroit techno -- that unique blend of futurism and soul. With _The Album Formerly Known As..._, he once again sets his footprint firmly in the musical foundation. From the smooth strains of "Technology" to the more frenetic electronic strings of "They Were," Craig never seems at a lack of musical ideas or emotions. "Mind of a Machine," for example, throbs and hisses as it skates along, while "One Day Soon" and "Landcruising" both manage to bring out the soul of the machine. The bright arpeggios of "Sparkle" lend truth the track's title, and Craig ends the album on three beatless tracks that shows he can do as much without percussion as he can with.