Customer Reviews

Tomorrow is the Answer

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Like most albums this one has it's share of good moments, and some I don't like that much. What gives it a kick start is the fact that out of 120 plus minutes, evan if you threw half of it away, you still have over 60 minutes of good stuff, and thats a lot. For me I liked almost two thirds of the music here. So here are my humble thoughts of the music.

"Ibiza Sunrise", well it's not my kind of thing, but it's a pretty good Trip-Pop song for what it is.

"Heal + Atone", this is one of the reasons I got this CD, a real good song, put together in an very interesting sectional way.

"Baby, I Know That You Know", it's a modern dance/ club song.

"Travelling", My favorite song on the album, slow, ethereal mood song with some unusual surprises in it.

"Hell to Pay', Eh, it's ok, not my kind of thing.

"Blue Haze Around the Crescent Moon", Very cool (in the literal sense) catchy groovin' Jazz song, perfect for the lounge crowd.

"Behind the Mask", Powerful world beat rock song, good lyrics too.

"William and Marie's Prayer", A slow thick ambient song, I like it for the first 5 minutes, it's pretty good, but it is around 10 minutes.

"Blow", The long version on disc two, is the real good one.

Disc 2

"Caravan to Infinity", I love it, a Moroccan infused groove/Jazz track, mostly instrumental, nice sax.

"Blow (extended mix)", This is the good version with the long electronic improv section at the end.

"Behind the Mask (extended mix)", My second favorite, a very long version with a Middle Eastern intro jam and a psychedelic end jam. I like this kind of music, you don't hear this kind of music too often.

"Blue Indigo/Blue Haze Around the Crescent Moon", the same as the short version, except with an extended jazzy-bluesy intro. I like the shorter version on disc 1 better though.

"On Through the Night" a very old bonus track, 80's-ish techno-rock, not bad.

"Neon Nocturne", one more bonus track, I really like this dark, moody swaggery one. Perfect late night music.

"Baby, Don't You Follow", A breezy blues-ish song, nice change of mood here.

"Head in the Sand", More bonus stuff, nice groove and space echo guitar on this one.

That's it.

I like most of the music on this disc, all in all I think there is a pretty original thing happening.

Like most types of music there are the ground level albums and the more challenging albums. If you wanted to say start a Jazz collection you would be better off starting with maybe Dave Brubeck rather than Cecil Taylor, not that one is better than the other, just that someone like Taylor is more of a challenge to listen to for many people who are not familiar with the music.

The same holds true for the Trip Hop/ Chill/What-Ever genre. Some albums are more of a challenge to get into at first than others. If you are new to this type of music you may want to start with Zero 7 or Morcheeba, they make some really good music that is easy to listen to. If you a more broad and are a bit more up the ladder you may want to try some of the more "out there" albums.

I like many types of music, but I find this genre to be the most confusing to people. I see so many strange comments written all over so many albums description pages.

Yes there are strange sounds, weird effects, unusual vocal concepts, but thats what this music is about - creativity. This is not Folk music or Rock music. I don't understand why so many people buy so many of these CD's, only to compare them to other albums that are so unrelated, then rag on them.

When I first got this Spicehouse CD I must say I found it a bit daunting at times. Listening to a 15 minute song can be a bit much, after a while though it did grow on me. If I was going to review this two weeks ago I would give it 3 stars, however after getting settled more with it, I now like it enough to give it 4 stars. I would say about half the music here is on the usual side of what a lot of Trip Hop is. The other half especially disk 2 is on the side of long jam kind of stuff.

I would only recommend this album to people who really understand this genre in general, if not you may find your self disappointed.

Tomorrow is the Answer is a unique blend of smooth trance, world beat, jazz, and blues influences. While the resultant tracks definitely have a sound all their own, the music is often repetitive and lacks substance. It could be described as the musical equivalent of taking a pinch of every ingredient in your kitchen and mixing it in a bowl.

This album would be right at home playing in the background at a hippie world imports store or a 'head shop. If you are actually concentrating on the music, it is somewhat bland and unremarkable. However, as background or ambient music, it suits well enough. The beats, even for being a bit repetitive, have a soothing quality and it is easy to work while they are playing in the background.

The artists are extremely talented, and I'm sure they will produce many excellent albums. My hope is that their future releases will refine each track to one or two musical styles, and perhaps feature a variety of such tracks, rather than the everystyle songs on Tomorrow. The price of the album ($15 for two loaded CDs) and the artisinal feel of the music made the album a worthy purchase, even if it will not see frequent play in my rotation.

Lets say 3.75 stars

What I like most about this CD is the fact that it is for the most part something original. The Trip-Hop genre, has many faces from hard electronica to dance to world music. This album embraces many of them. I like all kinds of music, a lot of things that a lot of people could not listen to, therefor I like a good deal of the music on this disc. If you like mostly one kind of music, you may find this CD a bit too scattered. I think they shine the best on the more jazz oriented music. These days the terms that describe music are very blurred. I find so many of the terms to be quite a bit off the mark. To me if you don't have good musicians blowin good solos you don't have any kind of real Jazz, no shortage here. I was surprised to hear a soprano sax solo on "Caravan to Infinity", not something you hear much these days. I don't like pop music that much, but I think the song "Ibiza Sunrise" is a good song, it is quite catchy with nice vocal harmonies. The slow moody songs like "Travelling" are interesting and so is "William and Maries Prayer" although I would like it better if it was shorter. If you like ambient music you would probably find these interesting. For me Ambient music is o.k. if I am in the mood for it. That said, a likable album from a good up and coming band.

I found this album through the free MP3 download section here on Amazon. I have been seeing them on top of the Jazz download charts with those little Amazon "hot" icons here, next to people like "Sun Ra" and "Madeleine Peyroux", so I thought I would check them out. What I really want to say is that I find myself listening to these CDs a lot. In my car, at home, I even just bought an ipod and am still trying how to figure out how to get the music into it so I can take it along with me on my morning jogs. I enjoy things that are different. I like art and science but am not musically inclined in anyway. Yet I can tell that something different is going on with this band. I listen to a lot of Morcheeba, Frau Frau and this new artist I just discovered named Sasha Lazard, and find that Spicehouse is now a new addition to my collection. If you like the same types of things I do and consider yourself a little weird, I recommend looking into this album. This may sound odd, but I never seem to see people mention the packaging very much on these reviews and I'd like to say that I think the CD looks very nice, too. I'm also partial to blues and oranges. For those of you who are considering getting this CD, try some of the free music that they give you. You might like it.

This is much different then the heavier guitar oriented music that I am used to when see them in Greenwich Village. I got this cd for free at a show, the description calls this trip hop music , I have no idea what that is, but it sounds like a form of electronic music, more or less. I don't listen to much electronic music, so I will focus on more of the jazzy and rock songs. I think Heal + Atone is my favorite, because I like more eclectic guitar oriented stuff (King Crimson is my favorite band). Blue Haze would be my next favorite, followed by Travelling which reminds me a bit of The Cure and Pink Floyd. The vocal harmonies are always right there on every album they make. I think the addition of the horns are a nice touch. The bio mentioned the people in the horn section play with Billy Joel, Tower of Power and John Hiatt. Having top notch musicians sure helps any record sound good. It is nice to hear something new that I normally would not listen to, good job people.

Interesting mix of music. What I really like about this album is the fact that no two songs sound the same, which seems to be my biggest complaint about much music. The moods here range from dreamy (Ibiza Sunrise and William and Marie's Prayer) to Sultry World Beat (Behind the Mask and Caravan to Infinity) to Modern Electronic (Blow - extended and Travelling). Spicehouse have without a doubt, created their own unique sound, no small feat in this day and age. Discover for your self a very nice modern voice, on top of some truly out -there musical arrangements.

This is really a nice cd. And this isn't even marketed as anything except just "music". I don't know what to call it, except music I like. This is some of the most creative music ever put down on compact disc. You can sit down and think while you have it on in the headphones or you could just let it play as mood music while you're doing work or what not. This album works because it takes a feeling and sustains it over the whole cd. Every track has a different mood, but it's the emotion that gets me - earnest, wistful, yearning emotions that are part of every track. I like the Jazzy sounds. You know, when it comes down to it, I don't like to think too much about music. In the end, what's important is how music makes you feel. Spicehouse makes me feel good and thats whats good for me. A really good CD

I first heard of this band on Chris Botti's September Chill Radio Show. He probably likes them because being a trumpet player himself, they also use trumpet on some of their songs.

I will try to describe music like Spicehouse. Their music is a blend of Techno, Acid-Jazz, Trip-Hop and Rock, and many other suprises. Complex at times but easy to listen to, it can be strange but not too weird and Avant-garde with a melodic and groovin' feel. Spicehouse are known for taking music of the past, present and future then turning them into something new, futuristic and unique. For starters, imagine hearing the Avant-jazz of John Coltrane ("Caravan to Infinity"), the spacey free-form textures of The Grateful Dead (and/or other 60s psychedelic bands on songs like "Behind the Mask"),the vintage Moog and ARP synthesizer sounds of 70's Yes / Genesis ("Blow"), beautiful vocal harmonies ("Ibiza Sunrise") that can blend right in with The Roaches, and while we're at it, how about some bits of Dreamy pop, Modern Jazz ("Blue Haze Around the Crescent Moon"), Alternative rock and generous amounts of synthesizer ambience ("William and Marie's Prayer"). And last but not least - a good amount of good ol' catchy pop/rock music. Throw all of these in one gigantic bag, then shake it up, and the result would come out to be the sound of Spicehouse. A good CD.

This is a good CD. It is almost impossible to categorize it. Calling it Trip-Hop is really only a partial description. One of the other reviewers used the word crossover and that makes sense. I would say it take a lot of Trip-Hop elements and melds them with other types of music, like Ambient, Jazz, and Classic Rock. A good example are songs like "Travelling" and "Heal + Atone." To me, they sound dark and moody, like Portishead music, but have powerful guitar jams like "Pink Floyd." "Ibiza Sunrise" and "Blow" are more along the lines of "Electro Glide," very smooth and catchy. "Behind the Mask" sounds like a mix of "Peter Gabriel," "Thievery Corporation," "Air" and the "Grateful Dead" (as in Dark Star), a strange mix, but one of the best and most unique songs I have ever heard. "Caravan to Infinity" mixes Ambient music, Free Jazz and unusual electronics on top of a kind of hypnotic Eastern rhythm. This CD never gets dull because it never repeats itself, every song is a new stop on a long exciting trip. If you like what most people call Trip-Hop/DownTempo but want something that is differant than all the rest, this is for you.