Customer Reviews

Experiments in Ambient Soul

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

 

 

This is a new and smooth sound not found in the states. It is very classy and original sounding. No techno, no computer looped crap. A very soothing beat to relax to. The French and Italian lyrics bring it all together. It is an awesome addition to any chill out house, lounge, or jazz coinsure/collector.

this mature album shows the group can mix well produced ambient tracks with the finest soul flavor I've seen in a while. Music to be heard tripping or loving, the latest dinning rooms album shows us that there's plenty of "out of pattern" groovy ambient loops being made out there. fine stuff.

this mature album shows the group can mix well produced ambient tracks with the finest soul flavor I've seen in a while. Music to be heard tripping or loving, the latest dinning rooms album shows us that there's plenty of "out of pattern" groovy ambient loops being made out there. fine stuff.

I have only listened to the first 6 songs - including the fine No Problem from this outstanding TDR offering and I want to state that R. Ahmadi's critique on this album is probably borne out of a musical tunnel vision. The album GROOVES with great traditional Funk and I thought the vocals are quite talented, actually.

There is certainly some good music on this album, but the word
"Experiments" in the title should send up a flag. Ultimately, I enjoyed the music on this cd, unfortunately it was often upstaged by what I found to be excessive (and sometimes annoying) lyrics. Still, there are at least a few songs on this disc worth having in your collection, particularly if you are a TDR fan.

The Dining Rooms are Stefano Ghittoni and Cesare malfatti. They're based out of Italy on the Schema label but have also released work on Edizioni Ishtar's "Milano" label as well. So they're label mates with the likes of Gerardo Frisina, Soulstance, Vuca, Rosalia De Souza, Marco Bianchi/Paolo Fedreghini, The Five Corners Quintet and of course, Nicola Conte. They've also been around and contributed to quite a few projects, from various Schema jazz sets and releases to Noorda and then to other remixes.

This release didn't grab me. Granted the concept is for experimentation with more of a soul vibe to it. And to be honest, that concept of soul and funk seemed to be the theme for 2005 in general. The cd starts out with "No Problem", one of the stronger tuens on the album - and it's the one with the vocals before going into "Diamonds & Comforts", a cut that just didn't grab me. Down the line on this you've got "Destination Moon", one of the IMO stronger tunes on the album with good keywork/horns and a nice vibe to it. "Within" is a track that will remind you of a Jazzanova/Ursula Rucker collaboration - not bad, but pretty par for the course on the album. But "Forever's Not" picked it up - easily one of my favorite cuts on the album. "Thin Ice" was a good moody track too. But for a good amount of the cuts, the ambiance felt more forced. Some songs, like "The World She Made" in particular, was taken apart by too many... maybe not lyrics, but just words... the style that dominated so many of the songs - just spoken words.

I'm probably a bit jaded since I was such a fan of "Subterranean Modern" and I absolutely loved "Numero Deux", so I can understand what the first reviewer was saying and the last - if you loved that album (Numero Deux), you may be totally shocked with this one. There was something about their second album that was much bolder, much more raw yet that much more eye-opening... like "Chorus of Flames" or how about "Invocation" & "Catania City Blues" - it actually did capture an ambience to it, albeit a dark one. But this one, and their last one, "Tre", don't really measure up to that one IMO. The sound has evolved and they're going into different realms of sound, which is probably a good thing. This was far from being a bad album, it's just that I've had it for quite a while and just couldn't get into it. But... I did like Versioni Particolari AND there will be a second Versioni Particolari out late this winter/spring.

No one quite does downtempo Italian jazz like The Dining Rooms. And although EXPERIMENTS IN AMBIENT SOUL eschews their numeric album naming system, it still maintains the same vibe. "No Problem" might not open the album as spectacularly as "Tunnel" did for TRE, but when the horns kick in, you cal tell they still have what it takes. There's a misstep with the subpar Ursula Rucker spoken word of "Diamonds & Comforts" and "Within," but the jazz quickly recovers with the housey "Afrolicious." There seems to be much more emphasis on vocals on this album, with mixed results. The soul aspect of the title is accounted for... less so the ambient part. "Forever's Not" has slinky hints of Thievery Corporation, though much more stripped down, while the quiet throb of "Thin Ice" envelops the atmosphere. But the jazz breaks on "Milano Calibro 9" and "Il Girotondo Dei Grandi" gets things hopping again. A solid album, though not as strong as their previous ones.

My first exposure to The Dining Rooms was "Numero Deux," which is primarily an instrumental album with great rhythms. I decided to experiment with this album and have been thus far utterly dissatisfied. As the title implies, this is a soul album. They should have left "ambient" out of the title because it does not apply. The soul tracks are pathetic, the lyrics are painfully stupid, and the vocalists need some help too. The only redeeming aspects of this album are its few instrumental tracks. This highly creative group can do much better. Save your money!