Customer Reviews

Hi Fi Underground

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Arling & Cameron return after a long hiatus (as well as, if the liner notes are to be believed, a terrible injury) with _Hi-Fi Underground_. And while it starts off with the catchy synth-pop that has always dominated their albums, the first few track feel a little wan compared to their earlier output. "I Don't Need It" has plenty of disco swagger, while the incredibly peppy "Words" has a kinetic energy of its own. But the album takes a stark turn with the delicate "Change," a simple, romantic, acoustic-guitar driven track. "We Can't Be Somebody Else," a proto-hippie call for human unity, seems a far cry from the party-hard attitude of "Shake It." The new version of their classic hit "Popcorn," (now "Popcorn 2006") is much more stripped down, but the shoegazy "Games" actually has more "pop." Finally, "Slow Food" sees A&C delving into Air territory, perhaps better than Air is currently doing themselves. Uneven, but worthwhile.

Give this album several listens, it will grow on you. I too was disappointed at first. Now I tune in a couple years later and it sounds as good as all their other records. The brilliant arranging, clever sounds and sense of humor are very much intact.

Arling and Cameron have coughed up another fun album! Don't hesitate to check this one out!

I expected more from A&C personally. The CD as a whole is good, but there are quite a few tracks ("Open" and "Computer", to name two) that grind on my nerves. While listing through the CD the first time I almost skipped these tracks completely, but forced myself through. Pretty bad, at least by A&C standards. I wanted, and prayed, that this CD would be like Music for Imaginary Films or Sound Shopping, but unfortunately it is not.

This CD cannot come close to the awesomeness that was All In, and I was quite a bit dissappointed by the fact that almost all the tracks had lyrics. The music itself is great, and has the signature A&C feel to it. If they were to release a instrumental version of this CD I would be the first in line to pick it up, as it is, though, I'm glad I didn't pay full price for it.

Good for A&C fans, but don't expect much.

Since "All-In" it's been all-down for A+C. All-In is classic and certainly was one of the best CDs of 1999, clever, fun and totally enjoyable. It's hard to give a really low rating to their 2001 follow-up "We Are A+C" if for no other reason than the great stand out track, "Dirty Robot." After a long hiatis, there is nothing to save this release. "You Make It Real" with it's somewhat new wave sound barely stands out and the rest falls flat.

I expected so much more from these guys...it seems they work better with a concept, like the brilliant "Music for Imaginary Films." Hi-Fi Underground, though it had a promising-sounding title, is an album of banal, boring dance music. I got the idea that they were ironically trying to make fun of terrible dance music, but just ended up making a really mind-numbingly stupid album full of repetetive tracks with inane lyrics. I was deeply disappointed. Go back to what you do best--zany conceptual music!