Customer Reviews

Soundtrack for Life

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If you;ve seen the timeless classic Baghdad Cafe, directed by German left of center motion picture visionary, Percy Adlon you will instantly recognize the lead track (of the same name) on this stunning debut from Axus. With the vocals performed by Naomi Nisombi comes the same wonderful sense of freedom and liberty found in Adlon's masterpiece . The freedom to impress is certainly an imperative for A:xus (real name Austin Bascom, alias Abacus) who incorporates everything from deep house to downtempo to drum and bass with even a splash of Detroitish t echno on this smahing new release from Guidance. "My Planet Rocks" and "Pluto" represent Detroit with their stark Motor city beats and surreal chord washes. "Near or Far" incorporates the most beautiful vocals from Rosina and while essentially beatless would provide the perfect set starters. "Oceans between us" could have been produced by LTJ Bukem, while the title track is a clever melange of saved voicemail messages and shadowy abstract hip hop percussion. Pure and honest electronic music from a superbly talented artist-another classic from Chi-town's cutting edge Guidance. -XlR8R.

The long awaited debut set from Austin "A:xus" Bascom finally arrives from Chicago's highly productive Guidance Recordings. "Soundtrack To Life" fuses all the best parts of deep house with tinges of jazz, funk, ambient and garage to very good effect on vocal cut "Bagdad Café (Callin' U)" which features the vox of Namoi N'Sembi, you become enthralled by the warm creativity of this guy - who made his name with the production outfit A'ba-cus.Tunes such as "Raw Emotions", "Near Or Far", "Taxi Blues" and "Synchronicity" are all superb deep house grooves while Namoi N'Sembi again lends her tonsils on "Nice To See You Again" and the excellent "You Make Me Feel Like (Peace, Love & Happiness)" while the Nat King Cole penned "When I Fall In Love" works very well with a gorgeous vocal from Bratticus. Altogether an impressive debut, but typical of the quality to expect from Guidance Recordings. -Blues and Soul, London.

What a lovely debut into the dance scene. Taking African drum beats, house music, dance and soft voals, Austin "A;xus" Bascom has releaed one of the most sincere club-laden records in decades. Essential for house fans and DJs alike, "Soundtrack For Life" is the only dance recording that can fit in the home and at the clubs.

Sweet. Soulfull. Thoughtfull. Introspective. Sensual.

Those five words describe this recording in a nutshell. Listen to this CD during a hot summers day while chilling with your friends - or better yet, a loved one; after a good listen, the last song will *definitly* help set the mood for better things to come, IYKWIM.

Guidance starts 2000 with the much anticipated debut LP release from Toronto-based producer Austin "A:xus" Bascom (fomerly Abacus). Featuring the rapturous underground hit "Callin' U," Soundtrack for Life is a subterranean urban panorama seamleassly blending lush deep house with sublime ambient textures, electro, soul, jazz and leftfield experimentation. The 13-track opus resonates with seductively hyupnotic songs ideal for the dancefloor or chill-out room. Flyer NYC.

Soundtrack For Life is an ambitious title. How can one artist craft a soundtrack to fit all of life's moods and quirkiness?  It's theoretically impossible, but A:XUS creates a fluid soundscape with this effort that reflects the diversity of life.

The first thing you should know is that this record is MELLOW. Everything has soft, wispy keyboards that seem to link the tracks together. This album is a journey. It takes you through the different stitches of the electronic music fabric forming a patchwork of satisfaction. When you come to the end, you're grateful for the experience and sorry that it had to end. I found it similar to listening to I:CUBE's Picnic Attack mixed with Nightmare on Wax's Smoker's Delight. Ambient, spacey house that morphs into jazzy trip-hop that morphs into "body and soul" house. There's even a drum and bass number, albeit somewhat weak.

"Baghdad Cafe (Callin' U)" is the first track. It is a preview of what is to come near the end of the album, starting off with a nice mellow house groove. There are vocals on the track, and I'm known for despising vocals, but here they aren't intruding. This is a track that will get some play in the wiser house venues.

"Raw Emotions" follows and has this spacious ambient feel running through it then comes "My Planet Rocks", a Miami-Bass throwback with those soft, textured keyboard lines fluttering over it.  Both tracks have a serious dub feel to them and should get some club play but probably won't.

"Synchronicity" will leave you in a deep trance after the panning sets in. A trippy track that's one of my favorites on the album, it reminds me of Autechre, in their softer moments. I can't get enough of this track and I always find a way to slip it on. You want more trancey sounds? "Pluto" is reminiscent of the trance sound of 1993.

"Soundtrack For Life", is like a DJ Krush loop with samples of an answering machine/voice mail thrown in here and there. It has a strong hip-hop beat but is still on the mellow side. This is followed by two very strong tracks, "Lazy, Hazy,  Crazy Days" and "Taxi Blues". The former is a  nice after party chill track on the trip-hop tip. "Taxi Blues" is literally like the theme to TV's Taxi updated '99 style.

The last three tracks morph into mellow house, forming a perfect loop, taking us back to where the album first started off. The first time I heard this album, I was blown away. A couple of more times, I started to ask myself if the sum was critical to the parts. Some of the tracks can definitely stand on their own, but others only seem to work in context with the others on the album.

Did A:XUS craft a soundtrack for life? Not really, but he has crafted one of the more listenable albums on the chill out side since Smoker's Delight, which is good enough. Perfect for decompressing after a long day of work or a long night of clubbing. Guidance Recordings has been putting out quality product and is definitely a label worth paying attention to.

On this CD, it seems like A:XUS is at a crossroads; his instrumental pieces, usually lush long-note keyboards with a variety of beats are solid but rarely spectacular. The fully developed 3-4 songs on this disc, however, are finely crafted and showcase his best efforts.

The CD starts of with Baghdad Cafe, arguably the best song on the disc. It then dips for "Raw Emotions" a respectable house number, and "My Planet Rocks" a swirly smooth electro piece. "Synchronicity" is a bubble beat over smooth strings, and then the CD rises again with the winsome vocals of "Near or Far". "Pluto" and "Oceans Between us are the same isntrumental styles with varying beats- some crisp, some like drum and bass. "Soundtrack for Life" is disposable, a soundtrack to voicemail. Later on the disc picks up with the "Nice to See HYou Again" and the brightest track "When I fall in Love".

This disc is a solid, soothing listen with few missteps, but it's the songs you'll favor over the instrumentals. Still, I'd recommend it.

On this album i love the song Baghdad Cafe (Callin u).The song reminds of a romantic moment I had with my girlfriend. I first heard the song from houseafrika vol-2 mixed by Dj Vinny Da Vinci.

If most of the other songs of the cd were like "Baghdad Cafe" and "When I fall in love" I'd give it 5 stars. Individually, most of the songs were ok but it didn't flow together. The previous songs led me to believe that the whole cd was filled with a soulful, lush sound. "When I fall in love" is mindblowing but if you can find that on LP - just get that.

Most of the other songs were electronic beats which are fine but they fail to create any transcendent feeling. They just aren't as original or as effectual as the editor claimed. I got -Soundtrack for Life- for the vocals: Naomi and Bratticus. Try Fila Brazillia instead, its layers of funky, jazzy beats background are *amazing*.

Despite that, its a good CD to have on and perhaps after a couple of plays it could grow on you.