Customer Reviews

Dark Massive / Disengage: Ambient Compendium

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

 

 

Like the title says. This album does a wonderful job of conveying these vibes. Dark and massive. The massive part is especially profound in a few tracks, when listening to this album, I've had moments where I felt like I was floating in the sea, with waves crashing overhead at the surface, and massive blue whales swimming beneath me. It was pretty cool. Bill Laswell rules!

Each of the 16 tracks on this album has something diferent to offer. The Terre Thaemlitz track, as expected, vibrates the house with its deep bass rumbles. The Tetsu Inoue and MJ Harris collaborations and the two Laswell solo's are my other highlights of a satisfying 'Ambient' entree.

Enter the 'Ambient, Bass and Drums' disc. The two Laswell solos are again highlights, along with the Jah Wobble and Jeff Bova, Automaton and Jonah Sharp collaborations. This second CD is great chillout music, good for sitting in the sun and drinking something cool - the sky seems bluer, the trees seem greener, the birdsong sweeter!

Good album, good value.

With 16 tracks spread evenly over two disks, this release was once a fascinating overview of his early-1990's work, but is now a means to hear a number of selections that are very difficult or impossible to find due to albums no longer being manufactured.

There is a flow to the presentation, which focuses on a much more introspective, brooding canvas of soundscapes. This is one area in a multi-dimensional career of a true artist, but an excellent way to appreciate an ambience developed over a specific moment in time.

This is a 2 CD compilation of Laswell projects from the early to mid-90's. Many of the original CD's these tracks come from are out of print. You get Laswell's Eno-esque ambient solo stuff, some Buckethead solo ambient stuff, and some cool fractal-like computer images that you can watch while zoning out to the music. Overall a great introduction to the quiter side to the quite prolific Bill Laswell.

Boxed Set? Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy this album but I bought it thinking I'd have a nice BoxSet to sit in the bookshelf, not on the CD rack. Imagine my suprised when I discovered it was just a normal double CD. Still, a very good album