Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

Yes, I would welcome a return to the thread topic after that little digression, rubbersoul, and here's my ten cents review:-

Kream presents Liquid: Lab vol 5

Thanks for the heads up about this being unlike other albums posted here, SGR. In fact I found myself focusing on the format more than the music really, because I don’t often use music like this: listening to 45 mins of non-stop up-tempo beatz. I felt it was doing strange things to my head.

Once I figured out the format that I was in for, I was (i) pleased with the smooth electronic transitions between the extracts and (ii) impressed that it was possible to run so many songs together so seamlessly. I liked the fact that no song stayed around long enough to get irritating, but the downside of this was that nothing really left any impression: the vocalists all blurred together to me, I felt no obligation to follow the lyrics, and as soon as one vocal bit was over it was immediately forgotten as the dj guys moved relentlessly on to the next. There was no breathing space in which to reflect on the music, although, in an attempt to hang on to some detail, on one run-through I wrote down “15 mins” and “22 mins” as standout moments. They were high points imo - or at least they were distinguishable in a good way from the rest. Also, to the credit of Kream's skills, there were no bits that which I actually disliked at all.

In summary, it felt like an agreeable wash of sound that I might put on for a special purpose. As I am among friends, I'm prepared to confess that I'm unlikely to be dancing all night, disco style, in the near future; a more probable scenario is that I will play Liquid: Lab vol 5 next time I'm doing housework to see if it energizes me enough to get a real mirror-finish polish on those kitchen floor tiles. -which leads me to my last comment about the format: I found myself listening to Kream the way I used to listen to pop radio stations: turn it on for a while, then turn it off when you’ve had enough, with no sense of listening to a piece of music with beginning, middle or end.

A very interesting listening experience for me because it’s the kind of music I usually avoid; you have encouraged me to set aside a prejudice, SGR. Thanks. 6.5/10