Doubts & Convictions

Troublemakers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 20, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Guidance Recordings
• ASIN: B00005AVOK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #172,828 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trouble free, January 30, 2002

By 

[e-mail] (los angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doubts & Convictions (Audio CD)

Marseilles, an industrial city where a multi-racial and cultural mix often results in violent
clashes, a breeding ground for the second largest Hip-hop community in the world, provides the
background from which the Troublemakers emanate. Yet this trio managed to come together
brilliantly, securing a spot for themselves on the international downtempo scene, away from the "French Touch" of Air and those who followed in the wake of their success. The cinematic
influences of DJ Shadow's abstract Hip-Hop construction is the primary influence of "Doubts and Convictions", but it is a more musical album, with a touch of Blue Note Lounge Jazz, a few
ambient textures, and the exotic sensuality of African and Brazilian vibes. The music is
laid-back, groovy, and easy to get into, but much like the place it comes from, there are flaring tensions and deeply rooted emotions, making it one of the edgiest releases in the world of Downtempo.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Troublemakers, October 1, 2001

By 

Guga (Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Doubts & Convictions (Audio CD)

Their first effort was masterful. The TroTheublemakers' "Doubts & Convictions" has all the expressiveness of the best of current electronic music. The reputed Chicago label Guidance, which is bringing out their first album in early 2001, has picked a winner.

There are three Troublemakers: DJ Oil (in the funk and downtempo mould), Fred Berthet (who has a more electro and techno approach) and Arnaud Taillefer (an all-rounder who is at ease with electro-acoustic music, hip-hop and filmic references). The project was born in Marseille, an industrial metropolis on the Mediterranean coast. The city's urban frenzy, the seaport, the sea, and its activity - the milling city, its warehouses, its racial and cultural mix, and its now well-known hip-hop scene - inspire the group's creative work, even if the group do not display any Marseille identity. "Our music could have been conceived anywhere", they affirm.

The Troublemakers were surprised to find that Guidance was interested in them. Theirs is only the second album to be recorded on this label, which normally produces maxis, although Guidance's catalogue recently moved more towards downtempo with its Subtitled division.
An American label? "It's a bit difficult to manage, but it is effective: it makes us independent of the 'French Touch phenomenon' ", DJ Oil states with satisfaction. And as a result of the group's first maxi, "Electrorloge/Street Preacher/Mister Moulin", which is currently in the stores, people are already speaking of them as the promising heirs to the French electronic scene.

With its organic, uncluttered compositions, the Troublemakers' album has rare richness, depth and emotional immediacy. The mastery of "Doubts & Convictions" lies in strong inspiration for measured rhythm sections (often downtempo, tinged with jazz sounds) and acoustic atmospheres (strings, pianos, vibraphone, double bass, clarinet, and acoustic guitar, finely sampled). It is structured with electro, cool and contemplative vigour, which can go into top gear to reach the engaging warmth of seventies funk.
So it can be surprising to hear them say: "We didn't know each other when we started - we just felt that we were complementary to each other".
The eclectic range of "Doubts & Convictions" extends with concision from the voluptuous Blue Note style jazz lounge sound to urban bursts of adrenaline, like DJ Shadow, Kruder & Dorfmeister and artists of the German Compost label, their declared influences, or more classic influences such as Ninja Tune and Mo' Wax, which have made their mark on today's music.

The Troublemakers' palette is varied, with many subtle changes of emotion. They want to instil the nature and secret of this "trouble", which is their signature.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars XLR8R Magazine, March 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Doubts & Convictions (Audio CD)

The debut long player from Marseille production trio Fred Berthet, Arnaud Tallefair and Dj Oil is an accomplished affair. Though the street preacher intro and the Travis Bickle comments that trawl the sprawling string of "Black City" act as ominous parentheses for an album, like DJ Food's Kaleidoscope, the material isn't all doom and gloom with the it's two years in the studio showing in the nuances and subtleties of the production. Lively percussion and cinematic orchestration really define the LP and though neither are too far away - both are used across a breadth of styles-stretching from the occasional disco strikes that break through the sonar of "Hum Hum" and the bossa breaks of "Fatigue Universelle." For this listener, however, it's "Get Misunderstood" which really stands out, it's French conversation and confused rhythm section making for a tense intro before stretching out to a full string accompaniment. A three-dimensional listening experience.