Music Banter - The Urban 100 - 4 Years On (Now With Added Authors Commentary)

Continued ...

The album opener 'Movin On Up is just a simply gorgeous uplifting song. It sounds like the Rolling Stones ' You Can`t Always Get What You Want' shoved head first into a funk blender. The gospal backing vocals add that extra dimension to the song making it sound utterly timeless.This could have come out at any point between 1964 & 1992 and would never have sounded out of place at any time.One of the greatest album openers ever.
'Slip Inside This House' is where the album REALLY gets going and is a bit more representative of what the album is about. As I said before it`s a cover of the 13th Floor Elevators song , but totally unrecognisable from the original , The psychadelic guitar rock replaced by a deep dub bass and funky backbeat replace the electric jug used in the original , with Bobby`s breathy vocals low down in the mix swirling along with the hypnotic sitars that dominate this track.This isn`t your typical 'Dance version of an old song' this is a psychdelic song renewed & updated to make it fresh using modern methods available, and it works beautifully.
The following song 'Don`t Fight It , Feel It' is probably the closest the album (or the band themsleves for that matter) comes to straightfoward dance music, The lead vocals are handled by the soulful Denise Johnson.This is big beat before the Chemical Brothers invented it.It`s your typical early 1990s dance song complete with acid house whistles,The song bounces along and it`s just so damn catchy you just can`t help but like it , Pop music how it should be done.
Higher Than The Sun , another album highlight comes next.If this is not one of the most chemically induced songs ever written I don`t know what is.Your head feels heavy just listening to this , you could just imagine this song just being one big headf*ck to anyone under the influence , skipping from being a laid back chill out song suddenly turning into a drum heavy rave anthem. Even though I still love the unworldliness of it , this song really does make you feel like you are floating somewhere.
'Inner Flight' is an odd one , it`s basically 4 minutes of instrumental ambient keyboards sounding not unlike a childrens song after a huge dose of acid , It starts off pretty innocently enough but as the song goes on just gets stranger & stranger , if anything I see it as an intro into.....
'Come Together' , is the 10 minute centerpeice of the album. Starting off with more swirly keyboards (That remind me of bubbles for some reason) We get the refrain "Today on this program you will hear gospel, And rhythm and blues, and jazz , All those are just labels , We know that music is music" being repeated over & over again before the drums kick in. In fact until the 5 minute mark this is all the song comprises of , but it`s just so easy on the ears it feels half that. Then we have more gospal backing vocals kick in and the song goes from being dance orientated to being something more soulful & traditional.Again a very uplifting song which the primary theme is the love of music & the unity that it gives. Another life affirming song that is difficult not to smile to when you hear it.
'Loaded' , next. During the 1990s this song was EVERYWHERE. I still think it`s one of the most regocnisable songs I have ever heard.As soon as I hear the opening dialogue from the song the volume goes right up & the head starts bobbing up & down. This is probably the kind of song the Rolling Stones would have written had ecstacy been available in the 1960s. The piano & the guitar riff that kicks into the song halfway though is straight off Exile On Main Street , the beats come straight out of the Lee 'Scratch' Perry handbook. This is a perfect example of what Primal Scream do best , take one of their own songs , play around with it , add loads of influences , get a load of guest performers and turn it into something totally different & fresh. Is it plagurizing? who f*cking cares i`d rather have this than most things I hear around.
It`s been said that Screamadelica is deliberatly put together to mimic being high. With that the case it`s at the next song 'Damaged' where the comedown begins. Again this is Primal Scream does the Stones but this time a gentle piano driven ballad , and it was produced by Jimmy Miller so it at least sounds authentic.If I do have one problem with this album it`s that Bobby`s vocal limitations really show up during this song , but it`s only during a couple of verses. When the chrous kicks in his voice isn`t as quiet & his lack of tune isn`t as noticeable.'I`m Comin Down' is another interesting one , a really nice chilled out tune with some nice jazzy interludes and some gentle Krautrock inspired beats in the background.In fact it`s so chilled out I fell asleep listening to it while I was writing this :o:
'Higher Than The Sun (A Dub Symphony In Two Parts) is pretty self explanitory. It takes the original song earlier in the album & totally changes it around into a huge sprawling mass of dance beats , electronica , industrial and dub. It`s maybe a little long , and I much prefer the original track but it`s so easy to get lost in the beats & trippy effects.
The album closes with 'Shine Like Stars' again a ballad , although a very trippy one , again using sitars & Bobby doing more of his floaty vocals. You could almost imagine this being performed by some 60s flower band but it still has the modern edge to it. And it`s a nice gentle way of ending the album. This is the perfect Saturday night album , you play the first half of the album to get you in the mood for going out partying , and then when you`re done you listen to the 2nd half of the album to chill you out when you get back home again.
I`ve lived with this album for years , I still find something new in it everytime I hear it. I love the diversity of it , I love the fact there isn`t a single album in the world that sounds anything like this , or a band who sound like this for that matter. Primal Scream will never be the best musicians in the world , this album will never be considered the best album ever made. But it`s the one that means the most to me , and that goes from the reasoning behind the making of it , the way in which it was made , and who whole ethos of using the music you love to make the album you`ve always wanted to make. And that to me is why to me Primal Scream are the greatest band in the world.

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