Rennie Pilgrem is known as the Godfather of UK breakbeat and he delivers his artist album. What territory is Rennie exploring with this album? Find out!

Rennie Pilgrem – Pilgremage (TCR)

The father of UK breakbeat is Rennie Pilgrem and he has never been predictable, which is one of his hallmarks and he has always prided himself in exploring new musical territory. Rennie Pilgrem has finally emerged from the studio and he brings his latest CD, which is called Pilgremage and it is his artist album. Rennie Pilgrem has been into breakbeat since late 1994, when he visited Florida and caught the breakbeat bug. Since then, he has been at the forefront of the UK breakbeat scene with his deejay gigs, his famous TCR releases, a label that he owns. Pilgrem decided that he would not go into his album alone without some help, so he brought along some of his friends, including Sara Whittaker Gilbey from Mara, MC Chickaboo, and US breakbeat king Uberzone.

Pilgremage (TCR)

1.Attention
2.Defender
3.Sanctified
4.Gladiator
5.Coming Up For Air (with Sara Whittaker-Gilbey)
6.Fuego2 (with Uberzone)
7.Celeb (with MC Chickaboo)
8.Trevor Pistol
9.Go Back
10.Atlantis
Bonus Track – Acid Part 3

1.Attention

The first track immediately tries to grab your attention. All you hear at the beginning is a robotic style voice that says “Attention, Amazing new music experience”, that repeats. About 17 seconds in, a piano riff starts to play and the track gets going but what shocks you is that the song is not breakbeat. You think it must be some joke, then a trumpet starts to play and you realize that the track is more jazz fusion. It is certainly more of a Gilles Peterson type track but for those that don’t know Rennie, his father was in a jazz band and it is one of the influences that Rennie had, when he was growing up. So what better way to start your artist album, then by going back to your roots. The trumpet drives the song, the vocal line gets repeated again and some bass enters (the string instrument) and it is used to great effect here. The only problem is that the song is too short but I like the fact that Rennie Pilgrem is not going to end up being pigeonholed as just a breaks producer and deejay.

2.Defender

Pilgrem continues his march into new territory with Defender. Some violins are used and they are placed near the background. It almost instantly reminds me of Hybrid’s Finished Symphony at times, breakbeat elements with symphony instruments. He only uses the violins at the beginning. A drum then comes in, the quick hits make up the bassline (no drum machine here). Now if Rennie Pilgrem had a trademark, then it would be his use of weird sound effects in his tracks. This is no different, with some odd sound effects coming in and out from the background. The bass comes in and then some unique water sound sound effects come in. Pilgrem is not done with the sound effects, he uses a human breath sample in the background. The track really picks up steam when a heavy guitar riff is brought in, joined with the sound effects, which sounds really interesting. The percussion then builds and they seem to move in to the forefront. I can help but think that Pilgrem is using what lots of breakbeat producers have been using of late, which is heavy guitar riffs, (ie. Hyper with his pop artist remixes and James Lavelle with U.N.K.L.E).

3.Sanctified

The pace slows down here, Sanctified has to be the best track on the album. It begins with a slow hard bass, with real drums that make up the bassline. The track contains this subtle yet hypnotic groove. Pilgrem makes use of keyboard pulse that comes in and out, it reminds me of Leftfield’s Rhythm and Stealth. A robotic voice comes in and simply says “Sanctified”. A guitar then starts to play from the background and it starts to gain in volume and it quickly becomes the focal point, that the song is built around. The guitar is so Lavelle GU026 like, then some strings come in. The song has enough parts to be a tremendous hit on the dancefloor, which I’m sure would cause some damage.

4.Gladiator

In song four here, Pilgrem goes into fun mode and you will love it, trust me on this one. Remember DDD (Deep Dish and Danny Howells) remake of Nobody Listens to Techno, well this is similar in certain respects. The song starts with a Black Guy saying the following line “Rock’N’Roll never dies, shit, techno is bullshit”, which is one of the few times that the line is repeated as such. The bassline then jumps into the fray, it is chunky and slow moving. Pilgrem in this song cuts up that line and puts it in different orders, first you hear “Rock’N’Roll never dies”, which is repeated a good 7-10 times. Then, we have “Shit Techno is bullshit” sounds weird but believe me, it works. The techno purists will hate this song at this point but I doubt Pilgrem cares, he is having fun with the vocal. As the track gets going, it seems to get darker and seems to become more harsh. Pilgrem’s cut up of the vocal continues, the vocal now says “Techno never dies baby”, you almost don’t believe it because the vocal sounds the same but just different words. It is nice to see an artist keeping you on your toes. The vocal then comes back with Rock’N’Roll is bullshit, I can see the techno purist loving this now. The track is weird but the vocal tends to push the song from start to finish.

5.Coming Up For Air (with Sara Whittaker-Gilbey)

Pilgrem smartly drafts in, Mara’s Sara Whittaker-Gilbey as the vocalist for this track. The remix 12” has already been released on TCR, if you really like this song, there are 4 mixes to go with the original mix. This has to be the perfect breakbeat beach tune, everything is so chilled. The vocal makes this track go from average into super addictive. The vocal line goes “Drowning in Dispair, Am I still your girl, I can’t breathe down here, I’m coming up for air”. It is backed by a simple melody and simple bassline, which you don’t notice because of the smart vocal. The only real difference is the breakdown is slightly longer than the original mix and this is a perfect chillout tune.

6.Fuego2 (with Uberzone)

American Breakbeat master Uberzone is drafted in here to help and this is more of the pure breakbeat tracks that you expect from Pilgrem, but remember I told you that he never does what you expect. The drumline at the beginning is slightly echoed and this heavy riff moves in, which is how I personally love my breaks. The sound effects rush to the front and more guitars come in, which is a breakbeat trend but I like it. The song makes great use of some electronic riffs that alternate, one comes in, then leaves and while the first riff is paused, another riff takes its place. The track sounds more Uberzone than Pilgrem at times but the track is destined to be a club track.

7.Celeb (with MC Chickaboo)

If I had one reservation with this album, it would be the vocal for this track. I’ve never been a big fan of MC Chickaboo, her works have never appealed to me and this track just reinforces that opinion. She rambles on about not wanting to be a celebrity and other things. The rest of the track is just plain nasty, the bassline is filthy and everything else is great. I wish that this track gets released with a dub mix because the vocal kills the joy of the track but without the vocal, the track is a mean hombre. The best part about this track is the grinding riff that appears about 60% of the way through, which drives it till the end. Outstanding instrumentation but horrid vocals.

8.Trevor Pistol

The track is driven by real drums, with a middle eastern style riff, which is extremely catchy and seems to hook you in. Some sounds filter in and out, the song makes use of guitars as well, it is not as heavy as Free*land’s album from last year. I like the song because it gives you what you don’t expect, which should keep you on your toes. He takes you on a different journey here, it is extremely forward thinking. The track also contains a vocal part, but it is embedded in the background and you can’t tell what it is saying. The breakdown is mostly guitar heavy riffs, with some drums at the back. It also feels good to see that artists are using real instruments in songs, not just computer sounds.

9.Go Back

The song starts with a old skool sample, that says “check it y’all”. Some funky guitar riffs join in, then a saxophone appears. I’m not hazarding a guess at what genre, this is. It is incredibly different from the norm and the jazz influences really make you want to get up and dance. The saxophone is very well utilized in this song and it is another example of Pilgrem going back to his roots. This reminds me of music from the mid 80’s, I think that was done on purpose and it is nice to see that artists have not forgotten music’s past. The song near the end has a old skool sample from a kid, which is near the background but it seems to add to the track.

10.Atlantis

The track here uses strings, which contain so much harmony and it is joined by some quick drum hits. It seems to be quickly going in the direction of Finished Symphony. Pilgrem throws some weird sound effects that enter from everywhere. It is incredibly unique and you get the sense that you are underwater at times. The strings are very beautiful and they get to taek the lead of the song at times, it is not as complex as the earlier mentioned song. It is refreshing to hear an artist that does not give you two tracks that sound the same. The EDM industry has become very formulaic at times, with artists ditching innovation for more record sales.

Bonus Track – Acid Part 3

I believe there are two bonus tracks on the two different releases, one is the Rennie Pilgrem mix of Emit and one is Acid Part 3, from the motion picture “The football factory”. Yes, it is true that Pilgrem is branching off into films. The track contains some beautiful acid stabs and a general uptempo song, that does not let up from beginning to the end. The track is dark and evil at times and it adds more variety to this album. Variation is always a good thing as far as I’m concerned and it ends this album off with a bang, no reason to go out softly.

Conclusion:
Rennie Pilgrem delivers a solid artist album, which contains a wide range of variation and a wide range of ideas. The only thing that prevents this album from getting a 10/10 is the horrible vocal from Celeb, so it gets 9/10. It will also push Pilgrem’s music to a wider audience and this is certainly an album that you must consider purchasing. It will join my collection of smart breakbeat albums, including Unkle’s Eye for an Eye and Free*land’s now and them. This album shows why Rennie Pilgrem is considered a leader in the breaks community and it shows why people look up to him.

UK Release – September 12.2004
North America – October (Check TCR’s website for uptodate details)