|
One review already up on global-trance.
Track Listing:
Papillon (7.49)
Submerge (7.02)
Triclops (6.52)
Longhorn (7.11)
Mainlining (6.52)
Blink (6.30)
Lifeblood (2.13)
Vowel (6.03)
The Dark Major (6.16)
Funnelweb (6.53)
Release date: October 5th 2009 on Platipus Records.
Its been a while (eleven years to be exact) since Union Jack released their last single, CockRoach / Yeti, on Platipus Records. In that time the trance scene has become somewhat lost, so much so that its a rare treat when anything original or inspirational lands in my CD deck. So you can imagine my surprise when I heard the news that founder Union Jack member and Platipus label boss Simon Berry was planning a comeback with a new album in the pipeline, joined this time by long time Platipus collaborator Paul Brogden (formally POB on Seismic Records and Granny with Claudio Guissani).
So, after their extended sabbatical, it relieves me to say that you won't be disappointed with this new material, with Pylon Pigs serving up a dynamic selection of up and downbeat numbers for on and off the dancefloor alike.The two pre-album singles, Papillon and Funnelweb, released electronically prior to the release of Pylon Pigs, form the bookends to the new album. Both of these tracks are solid, no-nonsense, driving, rolling trancers which set high expectations for the rest of the album.
Following the deep rolling beats, dramatic strings and vocoder spoken vocals of Papillion is the first of the down-tempo tracks, Submerge, which is a deeply hypnotic and moving, if not slightly melancholic. Triclops picks the pace back up again, with deep growling 303's and powerful dramatic chords, leading into the twisted pounding depths of Longhorn, with dark undercurrents driven by Eastern sounding horns. Mainlining provides a second breather, with a seven minute audio steam train journey across Europe, before arriving at my favourite track on the new album, Blink. Summer feel-good vibes, bouncy housey beats, smile inducing chords and the same vocoder spoken vocals that feature on Papillion all add to this infectious number. Sample spotters will delight at the short (if not sinister) interlude of Lifeblood, before the bouncy minimalistic beats of Vowel gradually build with layers of analogue electronica. The Dark Major is the last of the downbeat selections, meandering into playful jazzy lounge territory with a hint of twisted electronica (although far from dark, as the title suggests), before the deep rolling beats and cascading strings of Funnelweb kick arse to close the album.
As comback albums go, Pylon Pigs is an unresounding success and gets a big thumbs up from myself. No doubt former fans of Union Jack will take sanctuary in this new material, where the sound is undoubtedly that of the old Union Jack that we all knew and loved from the 90’s, just with a bit of a naughties polish. Welcome back.
___________________
My new oldskool TRANCE mix!
|
