The butcher, the baker & the music maker - 2001
The move to the new studio proved to be an inspirational move and hot on the heels of Puzzle was album 4, The Butcher, the Baker and the Music Maker (BBMM). The album took it's name from the kids nursery rhyme which co-incided with news of imminent fatherhood.
This theme of nursery rhymes extended through the cd artwork which features other nursery rhyme characters with musical references, eg little boy blue, blowing his horn etc.
Musically it follows on from where the Puzzle left off and had the Puzzle & BBMM been a double album, no-one would have noticed, although the latter is like a brooding younger brother. As many nursery rhymes are of a cautionary nature and warn children about what could happen to them, the dark feel is intentional. The highlight has to be Symphatic, with its long string intro, a forerunner to the long intros of later Breezy productions. An additional bonus track on the album is an acoustic version of Smile.
This theme of nursery rhymes extended through the cd artwork which features other nursery rhyme characters with musical references, eg little boy blue, blowing his horn etc.
Musically it follows on from where the Puzzle left off and had the Puzzle & BBMM been a double album, no-one would have noticed, although the latter is like a brooding younger brother. As many nursery rhymes are of a cautionary nature and warn children about what could happen to them, the dark feel is intentional. The highlight has to be Symphatic, with its long string intro, a forerunner to the long intros of later Breezy productions. An additional bonus track on the album is an acoustic version of Smile.
1. Symphatic: The very first & original long intro opening track, this would be re-visited on more than one occasion. The track itself is based on "Left to my own devices" by the Pet Shop Boys. The idea of using strings and orchestral arrangements in uptempo electronic music had always appealed and the PSBs' do it so well.
Pounding beats & a driving bass, give the track it's dancey feel which is all wrapped up in pads, strings & synths.
The artwork refers to the classical nature of the track with some lovely notes.
Pounding beats & a driving bass, give the track it's dancey feel which is all wrapped up in pads, strings & synths.
The artwork refers to the classical nature of the track with some lovely notes.
2. The Answer (Baby, I love you): Another one of those mish-mash tracks. Dum de de bass, subtle pads, big beats, Ebeneezer Goode style male vocal & a complimentary female vocal. Music is the ANSWER!!!
3. Fresh Start: Grinding bass and choppy sequences all thrown together into a musical bubble 'n' squeak, left over riffs and grooves that couldn't find a home anywhere else. A fresh start for all of them.
4. Easy: A very pleasant plodding little chilled out groove. Smooth bass, synths and steady percussion push the track along into the lounge style piano section. You then exit the lounge the way you came in.
5. Stalker : Opens with a tense, almost uptight percussion section, including a tinkered wah wah, and is added to by the dark brooding bass, topped off with the chilling melody. More drums add seriousness to the piece before a sub bass, runs beneath the entire track taking the listener to more seedier places. The artwork depicts a person lurking in the shadows........
Don't turn around - just keep running!
Don't turn around - just keep running!
6. Mmmmmm......: 6 Ms & 6 dots was not deemed a long enough title for this track so it got the name Mmmmmm....... Easy piano, another dark bassline and perky percussion. Anything to add? Mmmmmm......
7. Whoopsy Daisies: There's some sort of evil in the sky she says, but what is it & how did it get there? Was it us? Did we do it? Whoopsy daisies. The track culminates in a Fat Boy Slim style synth - Nerh Ne Ne, Nerh Ne Ne, I think that's how you spell it?
8. Smile: Following from Deft Pink, more guitars are experimented with on this track. A simple bass with accompaning percussion set. Then the twangy loose guitar arrangement. The guitar then gets replaced by a nice cheesy organ then the guitars come back to push the song along. Finally we have a nice piano to play out the track. It remind me of the Lightening Seeds for some strange reason.
The artwork is a smile, my sons! He wasn't even born at the time????
The artwork is a smile, my sons! He wasn't even born at the time????
9. Dooby Ooby Oom: Uses a female vocal sample repeatedly. A feel good track which uses a lot of the elements, or certainly similar elements to some of the tracks on the previous album "Puzzle" One addition however is the pulsing laser effect and this lead to the nebula artwork, with the words Dooby Ooby Oom circling.
10. A thought: After 2 upbeats tracks the album was beginning to get quite unfamiliar so it's back to dark and brooding. This track moves along and hints slightly of "Trouble" & "Lower" from the first album "Breezy" but on this occasion there is pause in the darkness and light peaks through. This is to suggest if we all just stop for a minute, what might happen. There's a thought!
11. Saucy: Unusual/experimental track. More dark bass, some clapping and that broken horn. There's some sinister background effects going on too. In later incarnations this could quite conceivably have been a final track.
12. Rokdabeat: Late entry onto the album - Rokdabeat relies on a hip hop style vocal over a kick & hi-hat combo. It's almost Technotronic for the noughties! Pumped up jam anyone?
13. Hornagraphic: Or horn porn, whatever floats your boat. Quirky bass & percussion and then the horns. A forerunner for Horn Storm? Honk if you like it!
Bonus tracks
14. Symphatic - Radio Edit: Because of the long intro I always thought the original version of this track was about 8 minutes long. So I shortened it, turns out the original was just over 5 minutes! A saving of 1 minute 20 seconds..............
15. Smile - Acoustic: Everything ripped out, just guitar left! and a bit of drum, just a bit, tiny little drum. Oooh.......and it fades out!
16. Dooby Ooby Oom - Lost for words remix: Extended version with the words "Dooby Ooby Oom" Not sure what all the fuss is about!
17. Stalker - Sinister mix: Extended, darker, seedier & dirty version of the original. Go get a wash, Now!