Customer Reviews

Means of Production: 1995-1998 the Early Years

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I am writing this because the last reviewer doesn't know anything about this. He comes up with all kinds of 'really cool' references, about where he's heard it before. Let me get this straight: these are hiphop instrumentals, and they're not original. But borrowing styles has been the foundation of hiphop culture since the beginning. And the music Aim is making is rather old fashioned and typical for english artists. It reminds me of herbaliser and dynamic syncopation bit. So if you dig ninja tune, you will dig this. The last reviewer mentions this:
"The "wow" bit is that AIM made these tracks between 1995-1998!"
That's not a wow bit, go check out dj krush and many other that were doing this around the same time.

Also people will compare this to dj shadow, because every producer-album gets compared to that, and that's a shame. I didn't even like shadow, this is something different, less samplesfreaking, more beatfreakin.

Now to the music: i already said it's instrumental hiphop. And it really succeeds at that. Excellently produced beats with a clear sound. Let the funk ride calls to mind pete rock. Most of the beats built around a steady loop laced with some scratching and short vocal samples that justify the title, and it can very well be used to mc over.

So if you are looking for some out of this world spaced out technological breaktrough album, don't buy this. But if you are into excellent beats, that have a bit of the golden era hiphop sound (eraly ninetees) that will get your ass movin, definitely cop this. It's about as good as it gets. Also check DJ Vadim, DJ Krush, Herbaliser, Dynamic Syncopation, (actually the whole ninja tune label), Rae & Christian (also on grand central, and sounding very similar)

this is a must have. These days, originality (revolutionary sounds) is a difficult thing to achieve when it is attached to a specific genre. Certain stylistic properties of other artists in the same genre can usually be detected. When I heard Means of Production, I found the styles of more than 5 different artists across several musical genres. Among them are Kid Loco, Enigma, Lacarno & Burns, Thievery Corporation, and Funki Porcini. This could mean one of two things. One, it could be that these guys are master copycats, or two, they're so good that they discovered the defining sounds and rhythms of a generation and put them all together into a CD.

This album makes AIM easily one of the most versatile genre-benders, capturing the soul of the downbeat and nu-jazz movement. The tracks are a beautiful amalgamation of nu-jazz, deephouse, downtempo, trip-hop, hip-hop, funk, soul, and everything you would expect of a 2003 genre-bending release. The "wow" bit is that AIM made these tracks between 1995-1998!

I don't usually like to give comprehensive reviews about individual tracks because I think it takes away the pleasure of the listening experience. Put it this way... I've heard about 50 2002/2003 albums and this stood out. The tunes are very digestible by a commercial audience, while manages to keep the attention-span of veteran-critics of the downbeat/nu-jazz genre/s. It's very funky.