Originally
published on isnotwas.com
You know that pain in the top of
your head you get when you eat something really cold too fast?
Yeah, an ice-cream headache. Well, when something really annoys
me, I like to say it’s giving me an ice-cream headache.
Now, it would be unkind of me to say that Ursula 1000’s
new album gives me an ice cream headache, so let’s just
say that if I had to listen to it too much, I’d probably
suffer a little from sensory overload. That way, you can interpret
my critique in a positive light if you like.
Ursula 1000 is essentially one bloke, DJ
and Producer extraordinaire Alex Gimeno, who, come to think of
it, looks alarmingly like Austin Powers, at least on the cover
of his CD. On this, his second disc, “All Systems Are Go
Go,” Gimeno mixes “18 fantastic beat selections.”
He gets things started with a remix of ECD’s
“Direct Drive.” This raucous track opens with a snatch
of drums and the blast of whining trumpets; then it segues into
harpsichord set against crowd noise and then into some silly “Inky-pink,
a ticky-boom, a ticky-boom, a ticky-boom boom” lyrics courtesy
of a female vocalist. A male vocalist enters and the two vocalists
swap on and off. The whole thing sounds like a riot broke out
at a party at Austin Powers’ pad. In fact this whole CD
sounds like a riot breaking out at Austin Powers’ pad.
The second track is kinda like the first
but with German sound bites replacing the “Inky-pink”
mantra. (It occurs to me that I’ve never written the words
“Inky-pink” before; I have still never said them aloud.)
“Mr. Bongo” is an admittedly
catchy little number. It’s got bongos and drums and spoken
word samples, which give you an impromptu percussion lesson, and
a saucy stream of organ work, and OK, OK, dammit, I admit I like
it. It’s pretty infectious. I just feel a little sheepish
having admitted it, that’s all.
By the time the next track, Nicola Conte’s
“Missione a Bombay,” kicks in, I’m kinda digging
this disc. It’s all muted, swingy trumpets and whispery
scat singing, ala Tosca’s recent Suzuki album. Then we segue
into a brief sitar on Jadell’s “Hell Yeah!”
Why does Gimeno use sitar here? Because he could, I guess. To
give his disc that worldwide feel all the crazy cats are diggin’
these days.
The remainder of the CD unfolds in similar
fashion. Think along the lines of Pizzicato Five or similar Japanese
electronic pop artists. “Polyblend,” the final track,
is an Ursula 1000 original consisting of a looped lyric sample
and unfortunately including a whistle.
“All Systems Are Go Go” ends
up being a collection of sugary remixes whipped into a gimmicky
aural confection, replete with speech sampling, German sound bites,
scat singing, screeching trumpets, harpsichord, piano, bongos,
noodling organ, sitar and whistle. Did I leave anything out of
that list? Very probably.
So the disc doesn’t exactly capitalize
on subtlety, but it’s not without merit. If you’re
a follower of the Fatboy Slim “Cram It All In, Mate—More
is More” school of thought, you’ll love this sonic
candy. In that sense, it’s a meticulously crafted party
CD that should definitely be part of any swinging secret agent’s
super sound supply.
Robert Stribley
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