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You may describe them as house, chill, electro, funk, progressive or even eclectic, but this is what FC Kahuna's debut artist album is all about; a combination of sounds, ideas and perceptions for the UK based duo.
FC Kahuna's debut album hot on the Nettwerk imprint has been a CD which has been highly talked about during the past several months, with tracks picked up by DJs such as Carl Cox, Pete Tong and others and shows that the electro-house sound of the 90s is still surging.
FC Kahuna aka Dan Ormondroyd and Jon Nowell, and their debut artist album comes through as a collection of what the FC Kahuna sound has been for the past several years containing tracks from singles as far back as 1997 (Glitterball & Hayling to mention a couple)
FC Kahuna - Machine Says Yes
1. Fear Of Guitars
2. Glitterball
3. Machine Says Yes
4. Growler
5. Nothing Is Wrong
6. Bleep Freak
7. Hayling
8. Mindset To Cycle
9. Microcuts
10. North Pole Transmission
Beginning with Fear of Guitars, we are immediately set in an eclectic eerie track with resembles something from a random 80s film complete with distorted male vocals and rubbery guitars which seems to put the word "glitter" into my mind. The opening minute or 2 is really not my cup of tea and sounds not much better than someone messing with a sampler with a few built ins. But once you get past that it becomes quite refreshing with its summer balearic like guitars and smoothness which brings it all together.
Glitterball, a track which many clubbers are likely to have heard, as its been out since 1997 and picked up by more than a few DJs around the world with its chunky rhythms and rolling synths, as well as...... videogame like sounds. Big radio plays, but who wouldn't? This is a track which is guaranteed for dance floor success and the crowds love it. This gives you a taste of FC Kahuna when they first appeared on the scene and show that videogame music can be interesting to listen to.
Machine Says Yes, probably my pick for the top track for this album is a disco led breakbeat track which comes across as a bit of a fusion between Fatboy Slim, Hybrid, and Sven Vath, with a tint of Portishead and Moloko. Truly dance floor grinding and is one for the peak time; dirty, dubby and trippy, just the way the crowd like it.
Growler is more of a current day progressive house track and not much interesting here except for some atmospheric vibes and the guys working up the reverb like theres not tomorrow. Lets move along..
Disco house, the sound of daft punk and others is what "Nothing is Wrong" will remind you of. A sexy disco track which also bears some resemblance to something Madonna would do earlier this year or yesteryear with its electronic blips and beeps and almost horny sounding female vocals. But before long, you get an almost comical distortion to the vocals which urge some people to don their earplugs. Although the track is an interesting reminisence of past times and the early parts of it definitely brings on dance floor action, the latter does cause a bit of upset to my stomach. Some may think otherwise though.
Bleep Freak is exactly what it the title says it is, bleeps and more bleeps which will either cause your feet to move incesantly or will bleep you up the wall. I don't really know how to describe this track except that its full of... bleeps! If you like the electro disco sound with quite a bit buzzes and blips then this might just be for you.
Hayling is another strong track on the album, coming across as a hybrid between Aim, Air, and Morcheeba. Featuring the vocals of Hafdis Huld, this track comes in as creepy and sublime, placing itself probably in the trip hop category, and great for those 3am chill sessions or prepping up for the big club nights.
More disco fever in Microcuts, but this time we have more chunk and funk as well as more melody and rhythm. A track which could easily be a set warmer for Paul van Dyk or Sven Vath with its electro beats or even in a Carl Cox set with its chunky madness. If New Order was producing these days this could well pass for them..
Mindset to Cycle is definitely more dance floor oriented, and right from the beginning there is a dark dubby bassline. Throughout the track it more or less maintains the disco vibe evident in much of the album and pushes an upbeat rhythm in what appears to be the peak of the album. But the track fails to produce anything substantially interesting as it comes across as being rather simple with just a few electronic melodies and some fancy 80s like electro-house before tumbling back into its sublime bassline. Some will find this track boring, whilst others will enjoy its uptempo clubby atmosphere, and personally, i lie somewhere in between..
The final track of the album is North Pole Transmission, which does actually sound like what the title says it is... enchanting, chilled and vocal filled, this is a cross between Air, Morcheeba and Sarah Mclachlan... perhaps? with a tint of tibetan like vibes until about 2 minutes when some beautiful atmospherics bring this album to an end..
Perhaps this album is not for everyone, but it does have some rather eclectic pieces of production within which covers house, trip hop, disco, and even a bit of breaks. Not entirely dance floor material but aimed more at the chill-jam sessions with your friends or afterhours sessions? A bit vague? Listen for yourself.
FC Kahuna are definitely solid producers and they experiment to a high degree in this album, hoping to push forward some new sounds to tag along with their trademark sound. With such a diversity of tracks, I would not be able to put a rating which represents all of them together, and the best i'd put it is a 9 for their experimentation, a 4 for their weaker tracks and a 7 for the better ones. What does that mean? Have a listen and see if it makes sense afterwards.
http://www.nettwerk.com
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