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Review: Jack Foley
GROOVE Armada have remained one of the most consistently thrilling
British dance acts of recent years and this timely Best Of collection
is evidence of why.
Based round the instrumental and production skills of Tom Findlay
and Andy Cato, the Groove Armada success story lies in their ability
to be eclectic.
Hence, they have proven themselves equally adept at churning
out tunes for the club-crowd as they are at providing something
for the chilled out sofa brigade.
Most, if not all of the tracks on the greatest hits collection
will be familiar in some way, whether it's putting you in a relaxed
frame of mind, as you recall the dream-like pleasure of first
listening to At The River, or shakin' your booty to dance-tastic
tracks such as the Fatboy Slim remix of I See You Baby.
What's more impressive, is the fact that the outfit has only
really been doing it for the past five years - because they seem
like they've been doing it for ages.
Other Best Of highlights include the Morcheeba-inspired
My Friend, which features a tremendously sassy female
vocal, and the funky If Everybody Looked The Same, which
just about egdes out I See You Baby in terms of dancefloor
energy (and which crops up on the Gone in 60 Seconds
soundtrack).
The down and dirty Purple Haze is a blues-laden, sultry,
dance classic, featuring Status Quo-infused guitar riffs and a
real humdinger of a beat, that kicks in about one minute in, and
features alcohol-drenched lyrics such as 'my recipe is Jack Daniels'.
You can almost smell the cigarette smoke from the underground
bar this was inspired by.
Strong too, and more melancholy than most, is the pensive Think
Twice, which expertly demonstrates Groove Armada's ability
to branch out from the dance genre, as does Inside My Mind
(Blue Skies), with its slinky beats.
But then being a Best Of collection, this does represent a tour-de-force
of all things Groove Armada related, so it is little wonder to
find that this represents the cream of what they have to offer.
The fun is in the licking!
* As a bonus the ‘Best Of’ will come packaged with
a previously unreleased ‘Live At Brixton’ DVD.
The show was recorded on Groove Armada’s infamous ‘Lovebox’
Tour, where they played three sold out nights at London’s
Brixton Academy.
Click on the box below for an album sampler.
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