Customer Reviews

To Come

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

 

 

Silent Poets, aka Michiharu Shimoda and Takahiro Haruno, compile the finest remix album to date with mixes by Taxi, Two Banks of Four, King Britt, Kid Loco to name but a few. A delicious blend of house, dub, hip hop and more. The Silent Poets are quite possibly the most consistent electronic act to date and Japan's best kept secret. They've put out remix albums for practically all of their full lengths and have assembled an impressive roster of artists/DJ's to remake their music. Prior remixers include the likes of Coldcut, Peshay, Nightmares on Wax, Attica Blues, DJ Cam, Fila Brazillia, SkyLab, Jungle Brothers, DJ Yas, etc. Buy all of their albums, you won't be disappointed.

I can't begin to explain how good this album is. it is easily in the top ten of all my cd collection. and I have A LOT of cd's. this is pure and simply an amazing release, moving, haunting, catchy, subdued and quietly affecting. a beautiful album. I hate to compare artists, as I think it devalues the work. however, if your looking for a quick and easy reference point, then you couldn't do much worse than to call them the japanese massive attack. but it really is much more unique and original than that. the use of strings is handled better here than on any other album I can think to mention, and the vocals are varied and yet seems to blend into one another with subtle brilliance. Don't bother getting the European release, it's not the real thing, Get Ready belongs on 'For Nothing' (Silent Poet's previous album that is almost as uniformally excellent as this one) and you'll want to have the proper version of 'I Will Miss This Holy Garden' rather than the Dub Version (which can be found on the "To Come 2... another version" (again, not european one!)). The guest appearance are spot on. the tunes are great. and even better than that, even if you love it the first time, it will grow on you more and more than you'd expect. Buy this album straight away, I promise you you won't be dissapointed. Highly highly highly recommended.

Ok, I'm the first guy to review this. But I'm telling you that in 3-4 months time, there will be forty 5-rated reviews here. Silent Poets are two Japanese guys who graduated from the best art/music academy in Japan. This CD presents a surprising varieties of euphony made up of poems, raps and songs--some with beautiful orchestration sprinkled as a true icing on the cake. A couple of songs are sort of minimalist style which reminded me of "Air" in a very attractive way. Also remarkable are the guest singers (Virginia Astley, Terry Hall, Kirsty Hawkshaw, Roba, & The Anomolies). The Anomolies' got one of the best female rapping voice as well as groove and strength. I see a similarity with What What, another amazing female rapper featured in The Herbaliser albums and so on.

At this point, I have to mention that Silent Poets made a European debut this April with their release "To Come..." from a French label called "Yellow Productions". I have the European version which has slightly different track listings (including "Get Ready" featuring Ursula Rucker. Also on a Silent Poets' previous album called "For Nothing" and NinjaTune's reknowned compilation album "Funkungfusion")

I listen to NinjaTune, DJ Krush, Fila Brazillia, K&D, Thievery Corporation etc. etc. if you know any of these names, either wait till you see the European version of "To Come..." or get it through here. I promise, this CD opens up a whole new world for you.

Peace.

Trip-hop this is. It is a fabulous piece of art in my opinion. You won't get quite the 'japanese' feeling from it like you would from DJ Krush's album Jaku, but it has a different style. I would like to say it seemed more hip-hop or beat oriented, but "Where the Sidewalk Ends" sounded beautiful with the female vocal, much like a Portishead track. All in all it was a great album, a must listen if you like trip-hop.

The silence say it all. The poets speak through the silence. Just don't miss this album.