Various Artists - Two Tribes 2005: Mixed by Mark James

(Shock)

Ah, sweet torture to sit down and review a CD of an event which I belatedly realised I would not be attending! Luckily, I was not overly enamoured with this offering as, simply put, it completely failed to knock my socks off. It is a fairly recent phenomenon that these wildly expensive summer festivals we have loved for so long now come with the full marketing shebang of neatly packaged CDs. The attempt to capture the spirit of the event for the sad absentees is often a bit of a hit and miss affair, if you ask me – ain’t nothing compares to the real thing.

But anyway, onto the music. This review comes after a fair number of listens, mostly conducted in the glum environs of work, so perhaps expecting my spirits to be lifted sky high is just asking too much! CD 1 kicked off with S & V, which is a pleasant enough housey tune, followed quickly by the yowling soul and happy, boppy beats of “Got to Release” touched by the blessed hand of Eddie Amador. I was not altogether sure about the inclusion of the dodgy, simplistically styled Faithless track after that, but it was somehow rescued by the amusing eighties disco ball that is “Nasty Girl” by Inaya Day.

By the time I (again) got to an equally yowly “Holding On” I was starting to feel uneasy. It was all sounding a wee bit formulaic and stolid – could it be saved? The appearance of Dirty Vegas lifted the mood into warbly, drifty ground a little, and the cheesily delicious “Put em High”, made for commercial success with voice interference an’ all, was determinedly perky. Until I got to all the awful “be ba bo-ing”, I was tapping my toes in guilty fashion. The rest of that CD was all a bit boring really – yet another eighties revival in the remix of “Shout” by Tears for Fears (a catchy hook does not a good song make) and yes, another warbly hit from Shawn Christopher.

Sighing at the aural adventure so far, it was with some trepidation that I planted CD 2 it the player and set it spinning. Decidedly electro at the outset, a tune constructed on someone’s Casio organ was overlaid with more trilling vocals! Dear oh dear. And the second song sounded just like that terrible fruit chew, “hit single” combo some advertising wide-boy nightmare dreamed up some time ago! The next four songs all sounded the same, quite frankly. At least the 1990 remix of “Yaaah” was defiantly honest about its roots, all repetitive and hypnotic, suffused with tribal shouting and wobbly hooks as only the early, excitable part of last decade would have it.

“Good Grief (Fuck You)” from Yer Man, was great – unashamedly driven by the increasing histrionics of a woman repeatedly leaving messages on a hapless and uncaring ex-boyfriend’s message bank. At least that one had a story line. I was kept entranced! Here’s hoping it wasn’t Yer Man’s ex-lady – for her sake. Rennie Pilgrim slapped down a decent, techy offering in Gladiator, followed by the Freestylers with their delectable and very funk-filled “Get a Life”. Sadly, it was capped off by a sad-sounding “I feel love” rip off. Oops -belonging to the CD’s mixologist!

Ahh, what a mish-mash. And my confusion was only heightened when I studied the flyer for Two Tribes. For a CD that crows on the sleeve about its variety of offerings, where was the hip-hop? The posturing of the Prodigy? DJs Hyper and Zinc? Or anyone on the line-up really? This reviewer has a clear message to the marketers – if you’re gonna slap branding all over a CD, make sure it reflects the message of the event it purports to portray. Bah humbug.

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