Harris sent material to Spybey, who was residing in The Netherlands at the time, to add to and finish along with the help of friend Niels Van Hoorn(blower) of The Legendary Pink Dots. It's difficult to tell where exactly Harris ends and Spybey begins (or vice versa) here as both share a predilection for a variety of beats, sounds and atmospheres. "Bad Roads.." is literally littered with all the above. Beat and bass rhythms are prevalent throughout most of the 64+ minutes in a range of tempos and styles, from infectiously off-kilter funkiness to deep minimal hip hop to firecracker drum 'n bass. "Good Way to Start a Bad Day" (which takes several attempts to get the motor up and running) and "Dschungel B-216" are top notch while others are good but not quite as interesting. Along the way are a handful of essentially beat-less sound composition speed bumps that combine electronics with other sounds such as a sax blare resembling a car horn and the ringing of a telephone. "Aeper" is a brief, distorted orgasmic scream while "Waaal" gently caresses with a steady sonic ambiance and inaudibly altered vocals. Van Hoorn's sax adds a blare, drone or riff to several tracks, moreso here than on the latest Dead Voices album. "Muffel" and "Misery Gote" in particular sound as if all three men are in the same room jamming. All in all "Bad Roads.." is a fine album that finds and takes advantage of the collaborative sweet spot amongst the talents of those involved. Look for Mick Harris & Ambre next, probably early next year ...samples:
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