Customer Reviews

Y4k

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

 

 

Evil Nine's Y4K effort is a bit hard to describe. Their debut album "You Can Be Special Too" was received with much hype, mostly positive reviews, but also a bit of disappointment. If your favourite track from Evil Nine was "Cakehole", before their first album, then chances are you will not like this album; but for fans of "You Can Be Special Too", this is just more great stuff.

They sound very unlike most of their breakbeat contemporaries, and if a sub-genre could be greated for them, it would be called Goa-Psy Breaks, because there really are a lot of psychedellic sounds, squeaks, bleeps, and samples in general that seem to jump out of nowhere, eccentrically woven together. Their beats are eccentric, off-balance even, and if you want something different, then this will probably satisfy you. Be warned however: They don't vary the beats within their tracks--Evil Nine prefers to apply layers of sound and samples on top of their chosen rhythm and bassline--the basic groove hardly ever changes in a given track.

Because I am a fan of tight, funky breaks, with clearly defined beats and basslines, this will never be my favourite CD. However, if you are looking for something refreshing, if you're a fan of their first album, or you're a Goa-Psy Trance fan looking to buy a breaks CD, then perhaps with album is worth your while.

This is the only Y4K release (I have nine others in the "Distinctive Breaks" series) that I own that is definitely "to be missed." From the lousy tune selection, to clumsy, incessantly repetive beats that aren't remotely interesting in the first place, to awkward electronic noises that do nothing to enhance the mix into which they're inserted (like a bad Terranova album), to suprisingly rough production and engineering for this otherwise superb series, this is a real dog. And it's not just something you can grudgingly hang on to and at least play as background music for your next party: it's actively annoying. For example, Campag Velocet's "We are the Trumping Men" has a better than average claim to the title of "most irritating tune of the last five years." I have no idea why these guys are as popular as they are. OK, "Cakehole" might be a decent tune to start out a club set with, but any DJ who plays Evil Nine stuff between 2-4 AM better have an alternative source of employment lined up. If this is where Breaks is headed, I'll head somewhere else.

besides track 5, which i can't stand, i love this album. i have seen them live and i agree with adam freeland when he says that they are unique and pave the way for new sounds in the breaks scene. this y4k offering is on my playlist at least once a week, as i find the first few tracks a good way to get going when i am dragging around. their rock infusion along with hip-hop is a nice change for the genre. the second half of the album gets into a deeper mix mode. i like it.