Freezone 6 - Fourth Person Singular
SSR / Dutch East
20th Century
Ambient
Electronic / Experimental / Industrial
Industrial Rhythm
Techno
Trip Hop, Breaks, Dub, World-Fusion
(Very) Alternative
Contact
Dr Morpheus dreams up another fine compilation of with-it productions for this great series. In Vol 6 he ups the dosage of exquisite jazzy breaks and refined trip hop tracks from an all star line-up including Global Communications, 4 Hero's Dego with Josh Wink and many more. Right from the start of the first of this two disc set you are into a candles & wine mood with the Frenchmen in Chateau Flight (Paris' Gilb-R and I:Cube, who've remixed Pierre Henry and Air). Their classy track "Camping Jazz" has nothing campy about it, as elegant piano lines, smooth strings, kalimba and harp, work around the jazzy snare breaks. This is followed by a strange but moody track by one of Etienne De Crecy's Super Discount crew, Alex Gopher, who disturbs a luxurious strings and beats production with Stephen Hawkings-type vocoder voice saying "I am the "Moving Fast Man""!? Japanese producer/remixer Utsumi (who appeared on the first Jazz Hip Jap lp) also evokes a refined, late-night vibe with "Toiki"'s sad strings, classic piano melody and Miles-ish muted trumpet line. On the second disc tracks by Bullitnuts and Phil Asher's Restless Soul work as bookends towards a similar subtle vibe. Also on the romantic tip (but without the breaks) is Global Communication's Tom Middleton aka Amba, with his chilled anthem, "Moonbathing," for deep grand piano chords and subtle funk bass. Meanwhile his partner Mark Pritchard proceeds in the opposite direction with a cool 60's jazz-funk groove titled "The Essence," that follows in the wake of similar tracks by Gerd that were released on Global Comm's Evolution label.
On the cinematic trip hop tip, are tracks by San Francisco's Better Daze, whose track "Oasis" begins with suspenseful piano bits over fast jazzy snares, before building up into a cooking group action. And London Elektricity provide a nice film music style theme for "The Land That Time Forgot", centered around a filtered horn theme and jazzy rim shots. Of course with 22 tracks to enjoy there are a number of moods presented, and on the lighter side is Atom Heart's Latin-jazz fun as Senor Coconut, and Buckfunk 3000's cut-up funk-house loops in "My Franny Valentine."