This Utopia

Spylab | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 19, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Guidance Recordings
• ASIN: B000062Y8K
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #382,188 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The funk without the junk., April 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: This Utopia (Audio CD)

"This Utopia" is exquisite. The debut CD from Spylab is a collaboration between Kenny Inglis and Jon Gillies with singer/songwriter Sophie Bancroft. The result is a smooth funky fusion of jazz, electronica, and trippy dance beats. Bancroft co-wrote five of the songs (This Utopia, Celluloid Hypnotic, Loveless, Breathe Easy, In The Shade) on which she also appears as vocalist. Her breathy cool low key voice blends well with Inglis and Gillies lush layered musical style. The instrumental tracks are just as strong and satisfying.

I imagine this is the soundtrack for a dream in which Angelo Badalamenti meets William Orbit and Morcheeba at an anniversary party for the Swans. The music floats effortlessly and hooks you in with simultaneously elusive and infectious arrangements. Vocal sampling and dubbing are used wisely and with effective restraint. Hopefully, experimentation like this is something to look forward to on future releases. There are no duds here.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars trip hop's worthy successor, May 1, 2002

By 

bowery boy (seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Utopia (Audio CD)

I first heard spylab's "celluloid hypnotic" last spring through a music sampler from the now defunct (but absolutely incredible) Revolution magazine. The track was such a standout with it's dark dreamy beats, soothing synthesizers and lush vocals of sophie bancroft that I kept it on repeat for days on end while searching to no avail for more spylab material. Imagine my surprise almost a year later when I discovered this talented duo finally released a full length debut (sophie does guest vocals. apparently she's a huge talent in Scotland, a classically trained musician who writes and performs her own material and is in huge demand as a vocal coach). Immediately I rushed to the music store to purchase this and was not disappointed with what I heard.

"celluloid hypnotic" appears here as the disc opener in a slightly extended mildly tweeked version of the original I initially heard. The dark dreaminess is still here with some extra synths and extended vocals thrown in for good measure. The overall effect is slightly diminished from the tight production of the single but not to the point where the track loses any of its intensity.

"this utopia", the title track, has some cool downtempo beats with sophie crooning seductively over the mix. Simple yet chilling.

"in the shade" borrows a page from massive attack but when the electric guitars kick into the last half of the track it's not intrusive as with massive attack. Instead it swirls around with the rest of the sounds as sophie sings "I need a little sunlight in the shade of you." What a great line!

"breathe easy" hands down is the best track here. This is spylab. This is their sound. I can not even begin to explain how incredible this track is with its simply complex drum and bass beats and sophie's voice. God! That voice!

"loveless" is absolute sugar, pure pop that could have been pure cheese but in the hands of spylab it's pure gold.

"the call" is the only irritating track here. It starts off with a great beat but then it falls apart with the sampled voice of some guy rambling on about mobile phones controlling your mind. Keep the beats; get rid of the rant.

The instrumental tracks remind me a lot of portishead or at least what portishead SHOULD be doing (and I usually NEVER compare anyone to portishead). Really good downtempo. I like the spiritual message and sampled opera singer of "façade". Overall, the feel of the disc is cinematically dark, moody and hypnotic full of secrets and despair. You're taken along on a journey that as dark as it may seem is purely enjoyable and absolutely dreamy.

This Utopia is what trip hop is all about.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THEY SOUND LIKE WHO????, May 12, 2003

By 

Darrell L. Lee "dlatrell" (Jackson, MS) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: This Utopia (Audio CD)

Spylab's "This Utopia" was one of those CD's that I would always sample in the record store and debate on getting only to decide on a lesser more generic CD that left me hanging...Finally, after musical boredom--as I'm sure any true music fan can attest to--I decided to go and get "This Utopia." WHY THE HECK DIDN'T I BUY THIS CD SOONER????????????????? I mean, I do love "Celluloid Hypnotic" and "Music Box"--so why did it take me so long to get this wonderfully produced CD?? And they DO NOT sound like Massive Attack!! SO PLEASE REVIEWERS STOP MAKING COMPARISONS! Spylab gives your originality and their music induces so many emotions within you that you may need to seek psychiatric help after one listening. The grooves are infectious and can be played at parties or when you're alone chillin'...the vocals are beautiful and airy and minimal...no additives or preservatives here...Sophie Bancroft does a bewitching job on "Celluloid Hypnotic", "This Utopia", "In the Shade" and my favorite-- "Loveless". This group, in my opinion--and we all have them--can hold their own against Massive Attack, Portishead and whoever else you guys want to compare them to!