s w e e t b e a t s
november.28.2000 - #353
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artist : Chaser
album : Game On!
year : 1999
label : Soma
genre : Lo-Fi
catalogue : soma cd13
url : www.somarecords.com
quality : CD 192k HQ True Stereo
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01 Sleazy Listening 7:33
02 Friend Like You 5:58
03 Blue Planet 8:06
04 Changing Minds 4:21
05 Everything Must Change 6:57
06 Tall Stories 8:25
07 F Train 7:58
08 Life In Loisaida 7:24
09 Theme From Chaser 3:40
10 Assassin 6:04
11 Sides Of Iron 6:21
11 tracks | 01h 12m 47s | 100MB
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Annoyingly, Game On! waits a while to show its strengths. "Sleazy
Listening" is an odd way to kick off such a critically anticipated
album. The track is nothing more than a sloppy alto sax- driven
'80s groove that even Stephanie Mills wouldn't have snuck away on a
b-side. Things improve slightly with the Rhodes piano chords and
subdued acoustic bass of "Friend Like You" which paces about in a
chill-out room hosted by Masters at Work. The album's first single,
the '70s bongo- funk of "Blue Planet" cries out to be put on a
Talkin' Loud compilation and to be appreciated by caipirinha-
sipping fans of Incognito. So far, nothing on Game On! comes close
to the sumptuous jazzy funk of Germany's Extended Spirit or lives
up to the attention that Sandberg and Hayes garner. But, wait...
On "Everything Must Change," the vocal sample sings "Everything
Must Change" and, well, something has. The four- to- the- floor
kickdrum jacks in and Chaser finally begin to get their groove on.
Yet for all the pumped- up beats, Sandberg and Hayes retain the
services of atmospherically banal synthpads which swoosh over a
bassline that belongs in a far more clubby track.
The second half of Game On! more than compensates for the
deficiencies of the first. "F-train," the masterful nu-jazz techno
of "Life In Loisaida" (that's "Lower East Side" for us non-
Manhattan schlubs) and "Assassin" all blaze away gloriously. The
euphoria that only great dance music can induce is now in such
abundance that it's soaking everything in its path. But don't pop
your cork just yet, because Sandberg and Hayes still have to ignite
their most spectacular fireworks.
The album closes in delirious abandon with the track that made
Chaser's reputation: "Sides of Iron" jams a Wes Montgomery guitar
line, a fluty groove with a clipped rhythm track that Mr.
Syncopation himself, Todd Edwards, would be jealous of. "Sides of
Iron" is simply one of those rare tracks that you instantly
recognize as top quality club gear. So like Chaser's adopted city,
it's a shame you have to dig so deep to find the diamonds in the
sludge. --Paul Cooper at www.pitchfork.com
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s w e e t b e a t s
we're all about sleazy listening.
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greetings to klangwerk, mgc, sour, & impg
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