Customer Reviews

Big Calm

5 star:		(99)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Hi! I bought this CD on the strength of the reviews given for it. This piece impressed me very much. Basically, I only write reviews for CD's that floor me, and this one does that. The music is very strong, it's an exciting blend of the best sounds in music from guitars, strings, scratching, mixing, good bass, and more..all anchored by the sweet and versatile vocals of Skye Edwards(she will no doubt draw comparisons to Macy Gray, even though Skye is so much more skilled in this humble reviewers opinion.) "The Sea" is an amazing, atmospheric track with amazing vocals, violins, strings, and a cool guitar part. Great lyrics, great everything. Everything just meshes so beautifully to create a phenomenal song. "Blindfold" is just a beautiful track that is one of those songs that you thank god for. Again, great vocals, soaring strings, and an unforgettable chorus. My personal favourite track on this record is "Over and Over". This track demonstrates Skyes vocal prowess the best(in my eyes) It's a somber track which makes you actually feel. Skye is just so beautiful on this one. The strings, as always, are fitting. The acoustic guitar is beautifully sparse and hauntingly effective. The words....nothing short of astonishing: "I'd like to meet a mad man who makes it all seem sane". "Fear and Love" is another track that just bleeds honesty and creativity. The instrumental tracks are jazzy, trip-hoppy, and just plain listenable. This is a very listenable record. I can do anything to this record. It's good date music, I could listen to it cleaning my apartment, I could just curl up on a cold or rainy evening and pop this in, light a cigarette and everything is fine. I read the other reviews about that aspect and I totally agree. Buy this record. You won't be disappointed, that is if you like good music. Although I wouldn't exactly classify this as trip-hop, I would recommend this to trip hop lovers. This music is simply too good to classify with a label. It is a beautiful, stylistic album that sums up all I love about music by having elements of all of my favourite musical forms all in one gorgeous package. This, folks, is the reason I love music. Get this record and see what I saw. I plan on buying the other releases by Morcheeba(of course from Amazon!) on the strength of this recording. Get it Get it Get it! On one final note, if you like this record, also try out Esthero's "Breath from another"....VERY good stuff!

Morcheeba is my favorite band, with good reason. Their first album, Who Can You Trust?, enchanted me with bass. Big Calm is very soothing, very smooth and cool. There is not a song that I don't like. My favorite songs on this album are The Sea, Blindfold, Friction and Big Calm. The Sea is very good to listen to in the dark. It's an excellent companion for a cup of tea. It's very soothing. There's something about Skye's voice... Blindfold kind of draws you in and doesn't let you go. It's almost bewitching. Friction shows that Morcheeba doesn't always have to be slow. It lets you groove. Big Calm is a very cool song because it starts out slow and grooving, then it gets loud and grooving, adding reggae/rap qualities. It always gets me moving. Add a guitar and you have the melange of musical styles that is characteristic of this group. I definitely reccommed this group to anyone who likes to groove. Big Calm is more for those who like a little slower, more psychedelic style. If you like a little more bass, go for Who Can You Trust?. At any rate, check Morcheeba out!

I started to listen to "The Big Calm" on a rainy night about a month ago. It has not left my CD player. It is an extremely intelligent piece of musical art. I highly recommend it. Go buy it... Now!

After having listed to and liked the slower and probably more sensual first CD "who can you trust" I thought it was time to venture a bit further into the world of Morcheeba and boy am I glad I did. The big calm for me is a far more complex, variant and intricate piece of work than their first effort. It opens with the sea which immediately grabs one's attention with Skye's dreamy, soulful, trippy but oh so chilled voice. The song has to be one of the best on the album. To be dead honest, there is not a substandard "filler" song on the entire album (pay attention other bands, if it ain't good enough, just don't release the damned song) I personally fin it hard to identify with the country route opted for by the band in "part of the process" although yet again, the band's versitility is there for everyone to behold and marvel at. Other songs of particular interest are "shoulder holster", "bullet proof" and a very interesting Brit ragga rap style in the rather vibrant trip hop song "friction". Look also for a remix of one of their older songs "the music that we hear" which makes one wonder why the original was not done this way in the first place. It is full of melodic harmonising voices and guitar work and can only be described as splendid musical glutony. But people, the best track by a long long way is the title track "the big calm" Good lord! The song starts fairly sedately, grabs a very firm hold of you and only lets go some 5 minutes later. What makes that song truely fantastic and indeed gives Morcheeba a unique definitive quality is the richness and complexity of their work. In a song like the big clam, there is guitar work in there by one of the boys that would make a heavy blues guitarist sit right up in admiration. At the same time, there is a guest artist rapping away like there is no tomorrow whilst increasing the intensity of the song with every word.

But that's not all. There is Skye Edwards very soulfully oohing and aahing away in the back ground. I've heard artists try and combine various formats and get it horribly wrong. Morcheeba do it and earn my respect and admiration as a pioneering triphop band! The best thing about this album is that it is fantastic with candlelight, in the complete dark, on a lazy hot summer afternoon or a wet cold winter day. Another sure sign of the album's greatness is that when I put it on, people acros musical the spectrum from a 60 year old jazz lover to a 15 year old hip hop freak ask me what they are listening to because it sounds good to them. Can't wait for the next one!

I am a big trip hop fan, and fans of both Portishead and Morcheeba. Why compare? Just because they are both popular artists of a little-known to the mainstream genre, it doesnt mean we need to compare them. Dummy by Portishead is one of the best and most enjoyable yet dreary records ever in my opinion. Their stylings are so different though. Morcheeba in this case lives up to the title of the album, "Big Calm" on this album. Its relaxing, euphoric, poppy, and dreamy. It is alot more mainstream and pop, and sounds alot more polished than that of Dummy. Dummy sticks to the original formula of trip hop, experimenting with lots of synthesizers and other instruments while this one experiments alot of other things as well. Although both are very relaxing and downtempo, and both can be used to relax to, Dummy is a little more dreary and sad, and this one is more happy and hopeful. They both have their share of great beats (on Dummy, best example is track 3- STRANGERS) and on Big Calm, some of the most upbeat songs come on tracks 4-6. After a quiet beginning, you hardly even notice it, but the beats get alot heavier and funkier. But why compare these two trip hop artists? They are 2 of the best trip hop bands, and they both have their different styles. While Portishead may have a little more depth to their music, Morcheeba sounds like they put alot more layers and trinkets into their music to make it interesting. I highly reccomend both albums to any electronic fan. Hope this helped!

I've always enjoyed Morcheeba's take on the trip-hop genre that exploded in the mid-90's--they took the heavy beats, sampling and psychedelic sonic texture and added a pop sensibility and stylistic diversity (owing as much to Pink Floyd as it does to hip-hop) that was absent in much of Massive Attack's and Portishead's iconic, avant garde trip-hop. Big Calm remains one of my favorite trip-hop records and is one of the most enduring examples of a record that holds up well both musically and lyrically, and is equally good for active listening as well as setting a mood as background music.

Skye Edwards' vocals make up a large part of the album's trademark ethereal, spacey sound. She deftly handles the tailor-made vocal lines in a style that's at the same time creamy, soaring, dark and sexy, while at the same time idiosyncratic enough to set her apart and make her recognizable amongst the numerous other female trip-hop vocalists. She's also a talented lyricist, working with Paul (I think) Godfrey to provide trippy but accessible lyrics about love, human interaction, and impressionistic scene-painting that's as interesting to listen to as the music.

Not only does Big Calm utilize the characteristic trip-hop elements, it also brings in a melange of other influences, from reggae, funk, blues, country, and classic pop. Each track is a carefully-composed work that's equally focused on groove, hooks, and the use of unique, different instruments to make each song sound different from the others.

Some highlights include "The Sea," a perfect blend of funk, moody lyrics and acoustic textures, the rocking "Blindfold," and the grandiose instrumental, "Bullet Proof." Really, though, the whole album stands up as a cohesive whole made up of interesting, identifiably different parts that flow together like some sort of groovy dream.

Morcheeba never seemed to be able to reproduce the mindset that led to this gem, although they did try--after the unsuccessful turn to disco and shallow lyrics of "Fragments of Freedom," the band attempted a good but not great return to form with Charango. If you want the classic, here it is. Recommended for fans of both trip-hop and psychedelic rock.

I would like to add to Big Calm's 5star run, it is certainly what it deserves. Saying it is trip-hop is a tad restrictive, this CD is *broad*, and very, very excellent. It opens with The Sea, a song that comes over you just like the song says... "a cool breeze blows, mind the wasp... some get stung it's worth the cost... I'd love to stay, the city calls me home, more hassles fuss and lies on the phone...". Scratching and swaying delightfulness. Next up, Shoulder Holster; a fab rock-sounding anti-gun song. Part Of The Process, and dreamy country track; followed by one of the album's highlights, Blindfold - a track beyond words. Get caught in it, flow. Be amazed. Glide into Let Me See, a textured mesh of sound. Following is Bullet Proof, an instrumental track slightly satirical (?) to guns, the samples reminiscent of Shoulder Holster. Over And Over, an emotional cry - "Running through my life right now I don't regret a thing... things I do just make me laugh and make me want to drink... I'm falling over and over and over again". Friction is a laid back reggae track, melting into Diggin' A Watery Grave, where Morcheeba have some fun with sitars, creating a very watery, deep-sea effect; a "time out" before Fear And Love, an all-too-true ballad, leaving you floating into Big Calm, featuring rapper Nosaj the Great, this awesome trippy track features Skye at her most smooth. The finale Music That We Hear is a remix of the track from Morcheeba's debut album, Who Can You Trust?, with great guitars from Ross.

G O G E T I T !

The second c.d. from Morcheeba delivers on the promise shown on their first c.d.It is an excellent c.d. start to finish. The first song glides along beautifully with trip-hop influenced bass and slow rhythm.But Morcheeba are more than just a trip-hop mimic band.The guitar work is excellent by Ross Godfrey and Skye Edwards soothing,rich voice is so perfectly suited to the instrumental soundtrack here.Track 3 'Part Of The Process' comes as an unexpected and pleasant surprise especially as it has a slight country feel to it.Yet it works totally and the overall sound is still unmistakably Morcheeba.It shows that they are now confident enough to explore many influences-blues,country,Indian sitars and a title track of brilliant hip hop. Morcheeba have written 11 excellent tracks that are of such a high standard it will be hard for them to match it on any subsequent releases.I totally reccomend purchasing this c.d.I have played it to many friends and not one person has been dissappointed with it yet.

I have had this album on high rotation for over a year, and I am still not sick of it. Its not as depressing and dark sounding as Portishead or Tricky (tho I like them too) - just a very mellow sound that carries you along... Great for driving or working...

I can still remember the first time when I listened to Morcheeba's first release, Who Can You Trust, and thought how they could top such a great debut album. They managed it, but not in a way expected.

The Big Calm is really calm. Very calm. As others already wrote about it, the edge of Trust is gone, but instead of that we get something that no other band managed eversince. While Trust was rather "hop", Calm is a trip. A trip you won't easily forget. Not that you have to or should. This is one of the few albums you can listen to a thousand times and still not get bored with it.

From the very first tunes of "The Sea" you'll be captivated. This is the perfect music for a candlelit evening with your friends or even alone. It makes you forget your worries, the world around you, sucks you in and the magic can be done anytime you listen to it. Therein lies the greatness. Also great for nighttime car-rides in the city.

I think this album should be on the shelves of every music lover. It is simply a must. Even if you don't like trip-hop, you'll like this one.