Archive for the 'House' Category

Album – Elevate – Morgan Page

Posted by admin on 27th March 2008

  • Band / Artist : Morgan PagemySpace
  • Genre : Electronica / House
  • Sample Track Download : N/A
  • Buy CD : Amazon
  • Buy Digital Download : iTunes
  • Rating : 8.5 out of 10

When I was growing up, you either bought music on tape or vinyl, yes those black (well not always), circular things (mmm, again not always) with a hole in the middle. If you happened to stumble across one in the street and it was considered naff, like the latest Max Bygraves (don’ ask) album, or a Top of The Pops special, it usually ended up becoming a frisbee, as indeed did my brothers single of the Jam’s “Going Underground”, but that was certainly not naff, he just used to play it all day and I really do mean all day, until I’d had enough and watched it descend 17 floors from our bedroom window. If it was of suitable weight, it made a nice Deathstar explosion, as the shards of a former melody littered the surrounding landscape.

Vinyl was usually sold as 7 inch singles played at 45 RPM (revolutions per minute) or 12 inch LPs (Long players) played at 33 RPM. There was however another variant, the 12 inch single which was also played at 45 RPM. One one side would be the single and the other side would usually comprise of a few oddities, rare tracks, or a few remixed variations of the single. In the 80’s this began to get a little over the top, with the remixes taking presidence and it became quite common for the whole B side to be filled with really naff, totally unoriginal mixes. I think this is where my disdain for remixes came. That’s not to say there weren’t exceptions, I can remember some absolutely great remixes, but on the whole they left me cold.

When I was sent an email telling me about Morgan Page’s new album, the thing that really struck me, is that it appears all of the tracks seemed to originally be by other Nettwerk artists, some of which I’d already reviewed. Remixing is very much an art form. Yes you want something that doesn’t sound like a rehash, but you also need to be sensitive to the artists work, as that essence still needs to remain. This Morgan undoubtedly does exceptionally well. Although this isn’t to my usual listening tastes, my interest was piqued and I got the album in for review.

Of particular interest was Jenny Owen Youngs’, “Fuck Was I”, which I was quite intrigued to see how Morgan would rework it. Yes the dance, element is there in full, but what really shines through is Jenny’s distinctive vocals, which contrast the music nicely. Leigh Nash’s “Nervous In the Light of Dawn” is another particular favorite of mine. Leigh has an especially light and beautiful voice, so there is some concern that a remix will swamp her voice, and while that is true to some degree, I found myself really enjoying the music and thinking of Leigh’s vocals as accompaniment, excellent accompaniment at that.

Of the other 11 tracks, I found something interesting in them all, featuring the works of The Submarines, Nelly Furtado, Delerium and Bitter Sweet to name a few. True this is not the kind of album I’d kick back and relax too, but it’s certainly one to dance to and I’m sure many of the tracks will feature prominently in nightclubs. It’s also an album I could well imagine being used to train to, or to listen to while out jogging.

Conclusion : An unusual album, but nevertheless very interesting. For lovers of remixes or dance music, this will be a very welcome addition to your collection. For everyone else, there is much to like and the occasional track that just hits the ball out of the park.

Posted in Electronica, House | 1 Comment »