playlist artwork#12 this weekSpeechless

by Polarity/1

Tracks

1 4:43 1190 listens
2 5:31 698 listens
3 5:21 474 listens
4 5:03 366 listens
5 4:43 294 listens
6 5:52 228 listens
7 5:08 184 listens
8 4:50 183 listens
9 3:01 161 listens
10 5:50 130 listens

About this album

  • Updated: 13/02/2009
  • View credits
    • SubTEKst: Label.

SPEECHLESS changes the colors of the room. Things happen. Cheesy cultural artifacts sprinkled on sarcastic spaghetti. Mood music for non-linear equations and unlikely postures. Doesn't require drug-ingestion... IS drug ingestion. The grooves moves and the sex is textural. Beat science for curved dancefloor.

Speechless was one of five nominees for Best Electronica CD of 2004 for indie music organization JFP (Just Plain Folks) that covers music from 85 countries in over 60 different genres of music. It's been remastered and re-released with a new track.


Speechless - Review

It's all too easy to slot instrumental electronic albums into neat little subcategories. Exotic world music instruments with heavy dance beats? "Tribal techno," right over here. Jazz soloists playing over synthesizers? Go stand over there under the sign that says "acid jazz." Brazilian rhythms mixed with lazy electronic billows? Um, okay, let's call you "electro-nova." This obsession with assigning slots to everything is a huge part of what makes newcomers and non-fans dismissive of the style as a whole: clearly, the records must actually be fairly interchangeable once they're categorized. That's definitely not the case with Polarity 1's Speechless, which is a big part of what makes this such an enjoyable release. All of the above elements are to be found here, occasionally within the same song, along with the clever, rhythmic use of found-speech samples and a wider variety of arrangements than usual, ranging from '70s-style fat slap-bass lines ("Blues for Chucky," "The Sumo Glide") to more abstract soundscapes built of cut-up rhythms and pealing saxophone solos ("Land 'O' Debbies"). It may not be easy to categorize, but with its inventive rhythms and wide-ranging choices of instrumentation, Speechless is thoroughly entertaining. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
 

 

The tracks of this album are published under a Creative Commons licence, check the licence associated to each track.

Reviews for "Speechless"

7 reviews


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balthaz

Mosaïque rythmique

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balthaz • 2009-02-25 15:05:26

Samples de chant choral, percussions afro-cubaines, sons électro-acoustique, segments de mélodie, micro-extraits de discours... considérés comme des matériaux percussifs à part entière, assemblés selon des schémas rythmiques complexe construisent des mélodies souvent apparentées au jazz-rock, parfois accompagnées de solos de saxophone à l'écriture musicale très graphique, dans la lignée expérimentales du fameux 'My life in the bush of ghosts'. L'album donne donc une part prépondérante aux rythmes, mais se bâtit également autour de la notion de fragment en tant qu'élément évocateur, privilégiant les rencontres de timbres inattendues, voire inopportunes, afin de provoquer une sorte d'électrochoc acoustique continu, perturbant les repères, proche par la démarche des métissages culturels de Talvin Singh ou d'Holger Czukay.
Piuske

Se laisse écouter / need more time

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Piuske • 2009-05-30 22:41:50

Hello. Interesting album, but will have to listen more, so as to give an definite opinion. Lot's of work I beleive, and quite nice I agree. Well will get back after having checked this out a few more times. All the best, Piuske
Ivan1984

What can I say...

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Ivan1984 • 2009-03-05 12:42:11

The first track is masterfully constructed, a scrapbook of beautiful objects of memory and mine is scattered so sometimes, just fall into it and let it flow over you. That sense is present in the second track, but in a totally different form, an underlying consistency seems to be present already. If so, that's pretty strong. Again a finely countenanced presentation of fusion and expertly manipulated instrumentation. Track three is a fanfare for the joys life can bring about, it's music to be enjoyed, with a very positive energy, even though that eventually dissipates in real life doesn't seem totally relevant here. But I'll keep listening. Speechless... Kind of reminiscent of US3 and Blue Note. Good times making up for the bad ones. That can only be commended. A fanfare indeed. Now The Eagle Has Descended speaks to me in a different tongue, so where does this musical construction get dissected by the voices in my head and hands, calling my name. Potentially provocative politically, but I won't say anything, though it's so difficult not to. It's all perspectival and some of us live under the cloak of democracy so I'm, for a change not taking up my 'freedom of speech', and that is partly why I am reviewing this album. It spoke to me. Nilestones versus terrorism. See I'm off again now!-) Again, that lovely Blue Note air of music for the sake of enjoying it for its vibrancy. Fine river of sound and elegance of movement, with a sense of ancient tribalism before the pyramids even maybe. The tapping into the world soul is paramount to survival, this track touches on that for me. I started to wonder at the beginning about the spirit of this album, at first I worried that they 'joie de vivre' that is evident, would break down into superficiality. But there is soul to these sounds, a picture speaks a thousand words, so should an album of music, however that should be presented (and shared). Blues for Chucky is exactly about the dissassociation of conscience that some people seem to enable to delude themselves with to assuage their own responsibilities and accountablities for their acts in their lifes. What can a single man do to move such a potentially tactile, ephemeral essence of power that directs the many unecessary deaths and suffering that are going on even as I listen to this. If it's make me a madman to care enough to at least say, if not actively do, something towards the ends of peace and harmony, then that's what I am. Tell me and I will remain forever speechless. A real heavy weight track is the Sumo Glide, very serious and confident in its minimalism. A sound traditionalism in sound form. The essence of life, chi. It's in the music and maybe in you too. Find it and use it for goodness it truly is. Nice track. Munton's Revenge livens things back up. Fantastic instrumentality and wonderfully blended, a Zappaesque feel to the amazing guitar work. An icon of an icon. Fantastic. It may be a dish best served cold, but this track warms you up nicely.
wojd1

Dobry album

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wojd1 • 2009-02-21 09:39:53

Panowie (Panie?) z Polarity/1 pogrzebali trochę w starych winylach. Pewnie spadek po dziadku. Własciwie chyba nie warto się rozpisywać. Tag + okładka w zestawie sporo wyjaśniają.
branton

Very Indiwidual

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branton • 2009-02-14 00:22:45

Hi....i;v listened this album....trying to absorbe climatiere;;;;many very original sounds,however to minimalistic...i admire this event for originality,it;s very good to hear this at work couse....sound come in and let u easily get to practise and by the time make u much fun of music.Very original and full of jazz experiences.
C.J.ROGERS

Cool Ways

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C.J.ROGERS • 2009-06-01 10:39:27

Yes this is an ingenious but very creative sound construction. That's what I like here on Jamendo find new sounds and ideas. I must also say that we must listen to the album more times to hear the small retailers what makes the ATOU on this production. But I also have a small criticism for the final mastering; I found that the production lost a little bit of originality and transparency between the different instruments. Especially in mid bass and high range, it’s to flat (for my taste). So all in all a good production and is absolutely recommended. Cheers C.J.ROGERS
lyceum

Ambiant Beat

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lyceum • 2009-02-14 14:46:13

A minimalistic ambiance in the science of beat. I like this album because it reminds me of Beck, though it sounds nothing lie Beck. It is like the artist took techno, jazz, drum and base and many other sounds, loaded them onto a rocket and shot them to the moon. Very nice.
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