Corkyees - Corkyees

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 20 / 1 / 2002

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Japan is not renowned for its music scene and although every now and then a band will become popular it is often because they are thoroughly strange such as Melt Banana. I’m not really interested in that kind of music, so it is a pleasant surprise, therefore, to find a band coming from Japan that is a lot more listenable but which is still pushing back musical boundaries. This album combines together both thumping drum ‘n’ bass and a more relaxed dance sound. I listen to quite a lot of this kind of music, but this is one of the best albums of its kind that I have heard. The drum ‘n’ bass tracks are frantic, and whilst not particulary original they are thoroughly enjoyable. The rest of this album uses a number of different stylesand varied instrumentation. The album, rather thasn just employing electronica , is mostly played by live instruments. The band gel together impressively, and don’t let themselves down by attempting any style that doesn’t suit them. Much of it is in a laid back jazzy style, and its appeal will extend far beyond dance purists. It is not, however, quite perfect. The album is a little too long at over 70 minutes ,so making it through the whole thing takes quite a lot of effort. With better editing it would have retained its focus throughout but instead there are moments when it becomes a little boring. This is a problem we’re all used to now, because the advent of CDs has not really encouraged bands to edit things properly. I still stand by the view that 45 minutes is about right. The only other problem is that the vocals are at times a little annoying. Don’t get me wrong; vocalist nYo is a terrific singer technically but I prefer singers to not show off how talented they are. Just as it is better if guitar players don’t show off alarming solos every 30 seconds, it is also better for singers to be a bit more understated. Any problems I have with the vocals are insignificant when you consider how good the music is. It is very rare for dance acts to show as much ability to write songs, and as good lyrics as a rock act, but the Corkyees are a rare exception. Ignore any problems you might have with the dance genre as a whole. This is a truly great album, and one of last year’s highlights. It is just a shame it was released too late to feature in any end of year polls.

Track Listing:-

1 Introduction
2 Rebel Jazz
3 USS
4 Swim Into The Light
5 Lamb To The Slaughter
6 Field Of heaven
7 Bagneto
8 To The Shore
9 Kitten
10 Fish Raw
11 KMJ12
12 Exosphere
13 Don't Rely On Me
14 Good For Nothing
15 Console

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