- See all the Ratings
- Add my Rating now
- CD
(Creative Vibes)
Brisbane collective Superfluid have been responsible for their fair share of booty shaking and it seems all too long between releases since their 2002 effort 8 Bit Crunch. An album that at the time had this reviewer all gooey with excitement over it’s infectious mix of heavy yet funky breaks. Whilst obviously fans of upfront beats to get your body moving, Superfluid complement this with attention to detail in their programming, live instrumentation and sampling galore to wrap your head around.
Project Vectrex is a double disc package that seeks to offer something for everybody. The first disc blends influences of hip hop, jazzy grooves, funk and beats. It’s definitely the quirkier of the two discs and for this reviewer probably the preferred. With an average track length around the three-minute mark, this first disc compromises of 17 mostly short songs and funky ditties.
Cosmic Penguin gets the album started off properly with a combination of a dominating funky bass lick and samples galore. Why Ask Why with Dutch MC on vocals, combines turntablism and cruisy rhyming before leading into the slower jazzy double bass of Pam’s On Pills. The use of obscure vocal samples throughout the album, combined with a heavy emphasis on funk, lead to Avalanches vs Resin Dogs type comparisons. Frequency Response has been getting JJJ airplay of late and is one of the more straight upbeat breaks tracks on offer. 40 In the Shade is rolling funky hip hop at it’s concise best whilst Speedway Star features the gorgeous vocal of Blue MC and is a laidback jazzy funk track. As the disc progresses, so too does the quirkiness with not so much emphasis on tempo. Lots of fun to listen to around the house.
The second disc gets straight to business with Hard Ass Lick (Cardassia mix). The tempo markedly increased to anything on the first disc, the sounds are techier and tougher, it’s obvious this is meant straight for the dancefloor. The tongue action continues with Big Phat Lick (Muppet Respect Mix), continuing in the similar territory of techy crunchy breaks. There’s a deep glitchy breaks remix by Vectrex of Frequency Response, but perhaps the highlight of the disc is Proxima 3 with it’s offbeat thumping rhythms and feint hints of funky guitar jangles in the background. As the disc progresses the tunes get deeper and darker, perfect late night dancefloor material. It all closes off with the hidden track number 14 which combines the glitchy bass lines with a thumping techno beat – a shock to the system on first listen but a fitting end.
Anyone who calls themselves a breaks fan must check out this album. Superfluid don’t seem to be mentioned enough in breaks circles and this album is further proof for their claim as one of Oz’s strongest producing acts – and they’ve apparently got a live show to boot. Do yourself a favour and go listen.
