Customer Reviews

Opera

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Opera, more than it's sister release 'Suzuki' is a somewhat experimental probe into the unchartered territories of sampling in dance music.

Huber (not Kruder!) and Dorfmeister weave an intricate web of original and quirky samples into beat & bass driven structures that sandwich perfectly to produce a sound that's refreshingly new compared to the unlimited number of 'cut & paste' dance releases that saturate the market today.

The music is ambient and dubby whilst keeping a grip on the slightly chirpier end of the scale, think Thievery Corporation in upbeat mode or Kruder and Dorfmeister without the hangover and you won't be far off the mark.

This is a perfect CD for music junkies to wind down to and will not disappoint, mainly due to its originality and positivity. There are some similarities with the K+D Conversions album, 'worksong' in particular springs to mind. 'Chocolate Elvis' is a real gem with its streetsmart originality and earthiness.

On some tracks the sampling is massively stretched and doctored to become the rhythm so instead of a monotonous and predictable 4/4 beat, you can hear an old man speaking out a rhythm as if he is describing what the sound should be like. This may seem a little odd but these chaps know what they're doing and it actually works quite nicely and hits the mark.

A welcome change in direction from the now rather predictable downbeat arena.

anyone into downtempo absolutely MUST have this album. opera shows the full skills of richard dorfmeister as he blurs the bounds between jazz, funk, and r&b seamlessly. the tracks seemingly waft out of the speakers, and envelop you in their relaxed ease. flat out, this is the ultimate smoke album - buy it, close your eyes, and drift off.....

While "Opera" isn't quite the finely chiseled magnum opus of Dorfmeister's collaboration with Kruder on the "Sessions," it is an eminently innovative and well-structured piece. "Chocolate Elvis" has already become a classic, and the heady "Ambient Emely" reaches new levels of surrealim, with its combinations of bass, Arabic poetry (in the Intro), short waves, and opera intrusions. This, the longest track, may take a bit of getting used to, but with the right speakers and a good ear, you'll be at the mercy of the song's shifting nuances. A very fine work indeed--well worth buying. I give it four stars because a couple of tracks could do with a bit of excitement. A much better work than "Suzuki," Tosca's latest release.

Opera is very difficult to classify - it works best under the title of downtempo, but the bizarre, airy pace of the album can't be described in less than a sentence. I've owned this album for a year, and discounted it mostly because it was too unevenly paced to keep my interest. However, after spending a few quiet evenings listening through the album (the only way to listen to downtempo), I have to say... wow. Opera is full of glittering acoustic gems that come together as a cohesive whole near the end of the album. I'm a sucker for any effort that appears structured, but even taken on their own each track is a beautiful, heartfelt thing.

"opera"... this cd has the same fascination with me as actual opera singing: my attention is held jus long enough to decide that what i'm lissenin to is good, but at that point i feel the need to move onto somethin else... this got some serious stereo time for about three days and that was that (about 3 and a half stars actually)... the 'suzuki' disc is far more enjoyable than this one, but if you have a quality multi-disc cd changer then you can probably find some room in it for this once you set it for 'random play'...

I am currently in the trend of buying trip hop and cool DJ music but always get turned off by rap songs inserted in most albums. Then came Opera Tosca. From track 1 to track 10 I got amazed. I like the beats and the mixture of sounds and voices. This is an album that I will listening often for the next little while.

It's true that this album doesn't rely on the samples of lyrics that many current downtempo artists utilize, but you won't miss it. They create wonderful rich musical spaces without a lot of lyrics. In much the same way the Propellerheads were masters of creating big-beat frenetic anthems keying on their masterful use of drums and bass lines, Tosca is able to drive their version of downtempo tracks without overly relying on too much "background" noise. Just listen to the first track and you will get a feel for the album. I personally find this to be one of my secret treasures that I recommend again and again to people who enjoy artists like Thievery Corporation and Zero 7... and they almost always love it as well.

don't be deterred by the suzuki comparisons. they are very different albumns. if you want to hear something just like that, then pick up the dub cd (also excellent). or if you are into downtempo just because "everyone" is, then go buy some lemon jelly (not me!).

while this may not be immediately likeable, and does not have the jam of the tracks suzuki and busenfreund, this disk is a solid production and still a good reflection of the deep talent of dorfmeister/huber.

This CD must be confusing the heck out of some music storeowners-especially if they're not hip to down tempo. Puccini composed an opera called "Tosca," so I wouldn't be at all surprised if Tosca's debut album "Opera" ends up in classical music bins at the odd record shop here and there. Boy is that opera lover gonna surprised when he takes a closer look at the back cover and sees the first track on "Opera" is entitled "F--k Dub." Check this one out for sure-even if you have to hunt for it in the classical music section.

It sounds really nice in places but the underlying music itself (the compositions) aren't that strong.