Marc’s Musings and Random Rants

I realised this morning that the bands/artists I hate the most seem to begin with a ‘K’. Is this some kind of conspiracy?

• Killers
• Keane
• Kaiser Chiefs
• KT (aka Ugly) Tunstall
• Kylie Minogue

This is the first D'n'B album I've bought since Roni Size's rather disappointing Return to V but I wouldn't classify Pendulum: Hold Your Colour (Breakbeat Kaos, 2005) in the same league - nor genre… the Scottish trio manage to fuse together big beat, breaks and even trance into fourteen tracks of madness.

The rather philosophical opening track gives the impression that the following 79 minutes are going to be something special - and they don't disappoint. Fasten Your Seatbelt, featuring the Freestylers, opens with what sounds like a Clockwork Orange sample before kicking into what I can only describe as - bear with me here - a mid-1990s Fatboy Slim sound, with a 21st century production. The only downer comes at the start of the title track, but this soon builds up with Rob's vocals that add the (often missing from D'n'B albums) extra layer to his masterfully produced track.

Overall, (I remember being told never to conclude with that word… hey, ho) this much-anticipated album ticks all of the boxes for me, even if by the end you wish that maybe Rob should have delegated the vocals more. If you are just getting into D'n'B then I would say that this is a very accessible album, but don't expect all in this genre to match up to this quality! Time to download to the Zen…