Customer Reviews

One Down

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

 

 

"Take A Chance",Let Me Have It All","Come Down" and the
utterly memorable "Busting Out" are the hallmarks of Material's
most commited foray into funk,a genre that the bands far reaching albums generally skimmed over.With guest vocalists like
Bernard Fowler and Nona Hendryx on board the sound is very much
tight,prototype electro-funk;hooks and melodies play a much bigger part in the sound of the music.The next album 'Memory
Serves' would only hint at a particular groove as it swung into
a more obtuse avante garde jazz style.But for a consistant sample of the influence Bill Laswell has had on contemporary
funk 'One Down' is the album to go to!And to hear Whitney
Houston singing totally outside the pop context on the chilling
"Memories" is worth the price of admission to me!

On one hand, sounding VERY much a product of its time (early 80's), yet oddly edgy and unusual, Bill Laswell actually found a way to slither into the mainstream, relatively speaking.

This is his "dance music experiment" so to speak, taking funky grooves, getting top vocal talent like Nona Hendrix and Bernard Fowler and overlaying it with his subversive experimentalism. "Busting Out" is one of the most successful tracks (and ya gotta love Nona Hendrix's soulful voice!) along with "Take A Chance", "Let Me Have It All" "I'm The One" and the unsettling "Time Out". Whitney Houston, of all people, shows up to give a vocal turn on "Memories".

WHo says dance music has to be boring?

....subtitled "Meet the Original Material Girls"

This is Laswell and Bienhorn's foray into funky-pop, and synthet dance moves. 'Course Material has been much more experimental in it's day...taking it's cue form the 80's East Coast avant-punk, intellectual electronica and performance art as culture era. Look up Laurie Anderson, Phillip Glass, Blondie and David Byrne w/ Talking Heads, Art of Noise, etc, etc, etc.....

This is as funky as it wantsa be with the rendition of Sly Stone's "Let Me Have It All" featuring vocals by funk-rocktress-goddess Nona Hendryx. Listen to Laswell on that bass-line. He and Stone shoulda done something together.

What makes this album historic is that this is probably the first vocal solo effort from pop-RandBee artiste Whitney Houston on the dance ditty "Memories". As such, however, don't kick down any doors trying to get this because she's featured on it. This is Laswell and Bienhorn's party and they can cry if they want to... jam if they want to.

And they do. From "Take a Chance" to "Holding On" co-written by the great Brian Eno. It worth a mention or two primarily because of the deluge of turntablists and ambient/electronica/trance/triphop/acid jazz folks who need more of an idea of how these 'new sounds' originated and evolved.

The absence of a change of tempo really brings this material down. I expected so much more given the nice stable of singers that were enlisted. It is sometimes hard to distinguish one tune from the next, and the substantial punch that is present in most other Laswell works is missing as well. To hear this approach done much better, try the CD "Soft Machine" by the Teddybears.

you will be very upset if you liked the other material albums and you then buy this one. beware ....