Barry Adamson "As above So below" Mute 9035-2 1998 (47:29)
Can't Get Loose (5:26)
What it Means (4:00)
Deja Voodoo (4:24)
Come Hell or High Water (5:29)
Jazz Devil (5:07)
Still I Rise (2:17)
Girl (4:46)
The Monkey Speaks His Mind (5:32)
Goddess of Love (3:09)
Jesus Wept (7:19)
Music by Barry Adamson (vocals, programming, bass, additional guitar, brass arrangement, production), Seamus Beaghan (Hammond Organ, Fender Rhodes, piano, synthesizer, brass arrangement), Malcolm Ross (guitar), Henry Olsen (bass), Tim Weller (drums), Claudia Sarne (backing vocals), Andrew Crisp (drums, bongos), Will Johnstone (programming), Flood (theremin, production), Peter Whyman (saxophone), Mike Lovatt (trumpet), Adrian Lane (trombone) and Atticus Ross (additional programming, production).
Overall impression: excellent! Barry Adamson returns with another excursion in genre blurring, dark, sexy soundtrack for a film that doesn't exist. Unlike previous albums, "As Above, So Below" strikes me more as a musical album rather than soundtrack, it's very vocal and song oriented. The album's theme is spirituality: there are frequent pleas to God by Mr. Adamson as the trials and tribulations of his soul play out in his search for salvation ... will he end up in heaven or hell? You'll find out at the end of the album. Track by track: "Can't Get Loose" is a dark and sultry contrasting pop song, "What it Means" is an upbeat, driving number with an over the top chorus, "Deja Voodoo" is more laid back as Barry tries out a few new vocal octaves over a lazy beat, "Come Hell or High Water" has a moody brushed snare beat with an almost Vegas crooner vocal accentuated with wonderful horn and piano lines, "Jazz Devil" is another clever and wry tale told over a 50's beatnik jazz backing, "Still I Rise" is an aggressive surge of crescendoing beat/guitar/vocal/noise that comes to an abrupt end, "Girl" is an instrumental cover (save for Barry's moanings and whisperings) of the classic Suicide song, "The Monkey Speaks his Mind" is another aggresive big bass groove as Barry struggles with the monkey on his back, "Goddess of Love" is a funky bass and horn instrumental (save for one stanza of whispered lyrics) that culminates in a sampled car crash, and the final track, "Jesus Wept" is a wall of sampled noise surges that build for 5 minutes then abruptly ends followed by a few minutes of lush piano/keyboard and the voices of many bidding Mr. Adamson "welcome!". Everything you'd expect from a Barry Adamson album: jazz / big band / swing / noise / big bass groove / samples / etc all wonderfully fused together. I think this is Adamson's best work to date, a truly wonderful album. A few notes: good - classy artwork and lyrics for all songs in the insert, bad - goes by way too fast, clocking in at under 50 minutes. Get the "Can't Get Loose" single for another 9 or so minutes and the "What it Means" single for another 15 minutes of remixes ...
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