Re: Beau Monde-Uriel

dj bambi (djbambi@hotmail.com)
Wed, 23 Jul 1997 13:31:24 PDT


>From: Michael Aregood <maregood@comcastpc.com>
>Greetings all, I am requesting recommendations if any of you would be
so
>kind as to help me out. I just picked up an amazing record on a
(french)
>label called Beau Monde that i found in the lounge core section. I'm
>pretty sure the name of the artist is Uriel but i forget the title. It
>is the smoothest, laid back, groovy stuff but with occasional reminders
>that it's electronic (techno sounds etc.) without overdoing it. Does
>anyone know more about this group? does this label put out other kick
>ass stuff? what in this vien should i look into etc, etc?

I have an old (95?) 12" from Uriel on Beau-Monde called "Do Android
Dream of Electric Jazz?" which I like a lot, mostly up-tempo
(130-145bpm) acid-jazz tracks and one mid-tempo track (105bpm), my
favorite because it manages to tastefully layer the complex phrases
you expect from acid-jazz with a very mixable slowed-down house beat,
leading to something appreciated by both jazz-lovers and ravers in
transition :)

Anyway, I read on www.fly.co.uk (check it out) a revue of their last
release, still on Beau-Monde, and I'll get it as soon as I see it.
I pasted it below for your convenience, but do check out FLY.

dj bambi

======================= Fly Review Follows ==========================
URIEL
Funk Attack Phenomenon 12" (Beau Monde 09)

Criminally ignored for a long time,
Scott Edwards has been ploughing
his own incomparable furrow with
releases on Out Of Orbit & Fifth
Freedom as well as overseeing
operations at Beau Monde, versatility
is his middle name, and this 4 tracker
recalls the lazy eloquence of the early
1970s, when Herbie Hancock was still
producing delightful recordings and
John Maclaughlin could be found
gracing countless releases with his
firebrand freeform jazz guitar
heroics. 'Under Compulsion' & 'Funk
Attack Phenomenon' could both be
straight from Herbie's classic (and
much sampled) 'Thrust' LP, dilatory
funk grooves that open up to
provide space for tunnelling Moog
solos, delicate Rhodes passages and
razor sharp 'stop on a dime'
basslines, 'You Who Are Reading Me
Now' on the other hand is a visceral
wah wah driven swamp funker which
bears more than a passing
resemblance to the opening track on
squarepusher's long player, (nothing
more sinister than shared influences
showing up there methinks)
of course a question could be posed
the lack of originality/ quest for
authenticity, but I enjoyed this single
so much that I didn't feel inclined to
smugly pull out Herbies LP and
proclaim 'funk attack phenomenon'
was an inferior imitation.

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com