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(Tru Thoughts/Creative Vibes)
Nostalgia 77 was once a hip hop producer, then he decided he wanted to chill out, musically speaking and thus his debut Songs For My Funeral dropped in 04. The Garden is his second release and rather than get back to his roots he seems to have turned up the snooze-o-meter.
When reviewing his debut for this very site I was at times impressed, but more often than not disappointed in the results, a man of obvious production skills had produced an album full of sleep inducers. Sadly (for me at least) it was a success and he was inspired to head further down the chill out track with The Garden.
The release is quite short at nine tracks deep, yet the overly chilled nature had me checking my clock regularly hoping it was all about to end. Chill out music is brilliant when done well the laid back beats and luscious musicality of it can be very catchy and perfect for a summers afternoon. Unfortunately here the beats sound like lacklustre bedroom productions mixed with 80s arcade game noises.
For me there is one out of nine tracks worthy of repeat listens in freedom, this track has subtle layering of sounds a slightly faster tempo and enough groove to keep you awake, something generally lacking throughout.
Perhaps the biggest mistake however is Seven Nation Army. On an album bereft of vocals including a cover of a well known song, sung by someone who quite possibly couldn’t crack the Australian Idol audition process is a bad idea. Regardless of what beat placed was placed behind it the mess of a vocal was never going to work.
Rather than growing with his potential on release number two, Nostalgia 77 seems to be taking giant steps backwards. One for the true fans only.
