Customer Reviews

Ink

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

 

 

The Dining Rooms return for another set of lovingly-produced downtempo. _Ink_, their 5th studio album, starts off with the bent bass and swooning vocals of "Free to Grow," and continues in the slinky late-night lounge vein. "Ceremony" certainly gets the heads nodding, and the moody spoken word of "Thank You?" evokes the mixed feelings of expressing one's emotions. The swirling harps, French spoken-word, and anguished horns of "Etage Noir 1" give way to the quicker house of "Etage Noir 2." Elsewhere, the Dining Rooms provide their good, if typical, downtempo beats, which makes for another strong showing, even if not necessarily mind-blowing.

I got into The Dining Rooms this past winter and their sound spread like a virus through my house. I picked up Experiments and then went back and grabbed Sub Vol 1... Tre... Num Deux... and ultimately the 2 Versioni albums. All of them really are truly great in their own respects. This group hints on a number of different sounds, nothing that hasn't necessarily been done before - but somehow are able to create something no one else does at the same time. This album will go on be a Dining Rooms staple although it lacks some of the pizazz some of the others may have. It's a very beautiful album in every respect of the word. The title track was the first one that stood out to me. They quickly became a group that I will continue to buy whatever they produce. I can't say which LP's of theirs would be my favorite. And as deserving as they are of 4 stars I can't give them 5 because whereas they lack NOTHING, I mean, they don't make songs, they make albums that you have to hear from start to finish, and once you hear one, you want to hear them all. But 5 stars really has to be reserved for that next level to me.