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|| DECRyPTED presents...
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|. :| _artist......: X-Press 2
: || _album.......: The House Of X-Press 2
: |: _year........: 2012
. | _genre.......: House
. | _style.......: Tech House, Deep House
: _label.......: Skint Records
. _cat.nr......: BRASSIC069CD
_source......: CDDA
_quality.....: avg. 248kbps / 44.1kHz
_encoder.....: .mp3 lame 3.98.4 vbr -v0 (except WEB)
_tracks......: 12
_size........: 109.84MB
_length......: 61:48
_proof.......: Yes [x] / No [ ]
_url.........: facebook.com/houseofxpress2
_tracklist...:
01. This Is War (Feat. Doll) 04:18
02. Opulence 05:15
03. Let Love Decide (Feat. Roland Clark) 05:26
04. The Blast (Feat. Rob Harvey) 05:36
05. Get On You 05:34
06. Time (Feat. James Yuill) 03:58
07. Dark Matar 04:45
08. Frayed Of The Light (Feat. Amber Jolene) 05:26
09. Lost The Feelin' (Feat. Tim Deluxe) 05:04
10. In The Blood (Feat. Alison Limerick) 05:31
11. Million Miles Away (Feat. Roland Clark) 05:24
12. Play Mates At The Supermarket 05:31
(Feat. Analog People In A Digital World)
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61:48 min
_description.: As the legendary phrase goes, 'up here for thinking,
down there for dancing'. It's rare to find a dance act
that combines the two. No-one wants to think while
shaking their booty, do they? X-Press 2 don't claim to
be a highbrow dance act stroking their theses on love,
life and the universe on the dancefloor, but they
aren't mindless bandwagon-hoppers waving the
'flavour-of-the-month' stick to please the gurning
punters either.
Having set up shop some 25 years ago, their first
proper album release was 2002's Muzikizum, which bore
their 'millstone' David Byrne fronted hit Lazy. They
know their strengths and haven't deviated from the
shuffling house blueprint too far since.
There's no doubting the respect which DJ Diesel (Darren
House) and DJ Rocky (Darren Rock) are held in the dance
community and can lay claim to being the grandaddies of
house music soundtracking the clubbing movement, but
are they still relevant in the age of declining old
school acts and the emergence of genre-hopping bedroom
dance embryos?
As with all of X-Press 2's previous works, the strength
on The House Of X-Press 2 lies in the standard of the
guest vocalists chosen to accompany them, with Byrne
leading the initial salvo, followed by Lambchop's Kurt
Wagner and The Polyphonic Spree's Tim DeLaughter on
2006's Makeshift Feelgood setting the bar pretty high.
This Is War sets the tone here, with new singer Doll
(from Doll & The Kicks) doing her best Karen O
spookisms. Similarly obscure are the vocals of Rob
Harvey (from The Music - remember them?), who appears
on The Blast, a track which never really ignites into
anything beyond a moody space shuffle.
Titles alone give the impression of an
'all-guns-blazing' approach, but the reality is a
little more peaceful. Lending some horizontal vocals
from James Yuill to the sprightly Time makes it pass
inoffensively, but doesn't cause it to be remembered.
Dance diva of yore Alison Limerick puts in a soulful
warble on In The Blood, but can't prevent it sounding
like it could have beamed in from the late '90s. From
the same era as themselves house music veteran Roland
Clark lends his vocals to two tracks; the shaky, snaky
Let Love Decide and the whispered menace of Million
Miles Away, both of which are house music personified,
with shuffling bass grooves, clipped keyboards,
skittering percussion and topped by a soulful vocal.
Oddly, the tracks that work best are the instrumentals,
for not being shackled to a guest performer; Get On You
is dark slice of dirty house that has layers and an
atmosphere of menace in its relentless groove.
Similarly, Dark Matar shuffles on a bed of clattering
drums, bubbling bass and a vocal cut-up that peaks and
falls in all the right places. They keep the best 'til
last with Playmates At The Supermarket, featuring
Analog People In A Digital World, which sounds in parts
like Audio Bullies meeting a slab of '80s electro for a
dancefloor dust-up of dubbed-up beats.
So, how does the third album offering from X-Press 2
fare in the harsh light of 2012? Sticking to 'no frills
epic bangers' (from their press release) format could
lay them open to accusations of being 'lazy'. But there
are flashes of wickedness in the production duties of
Analog People In A Digital World and Tim Deluxe, and in
the strength of the instrumental tracks. No real alarms
or surprises here, but there's enough good stuff to
keep the faithful dancing, and that's all they want to
do. Brain off, feet on, let's boogie.
2013.04.22
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