Snarkattack

The name Faithless needs little introduction. Back in my stupid teenage years, I snickered over earlier hits of theirs such as ‘Insomnia’ and ‘God Is A DJ’. It would be a while till I saw the error of my ways and realised that Faithless are seriously good musicians, after their album Outrospective was released.

What better way to celebrate their contribution to mainstream dance music by being the next artist to follow Satoshi Tomiie’s Renaissance 3D release with one of their own: a compilation of three compact discs, each disc devoted to a particular ‘venue’ – we have ‘Studio’, featuring the band’s own remixes and productions and therefore largely made up of their oeuvre in versions not familiar to many due to their rarity.

Then there is ‘Club’, a shorter version of a DJ set but the premise is the same – a selection of tracks put together so as to get you up and dancing wherever you might be. Finally there is ‘Home’ with a more subdued and toned down vibe, featuring the ‘chillout’ mix.

It’s a fairly long journey but Faithless manage to keep up the pace throughout and have the listener wondering what will come next. DJ, producer and keyboard player Sister Bliss gives notes on the selections featured on the ‘Studio’ CD and in so doing gives us a brief insight into some of Faithless’ seminal moments.

It also highlights their British roots – they name Tricky (alongside DJ and rapper-lyricist Maxi Jazz) as someone whose rapping style was ‘distinctly’ British. Film director Danny Boyle commissioned Faithless to write a track for his adaptation of (British novelist) Alex Garland’s The Beach cementing their collaborative relationship (Boyle having used tracks from Faithless’ album Reverence for his previous film A Life Less Ordinary).

It’s difficult to name stand-out tracks on this disc as they seem to be chosen for their personal significance for the band. Such tracks include Sister Bliss and (fellow Faithless producer) Rollo’s remix of Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’; a remix of ‘Crazy English Summer’ featuring the haunting vocals of Zoë Johnston who first came to the public’s attention when Bent released the single ‘Swollen’; a film soundtrack exclusive (‘Addictive’ for Cruel Intentions); the main single from 1 Giant Leap, and a song penned by Sister Bliss and Rollo for his sister Dido (‘Worthless’) who was only paid a curry (according to the sleeve notes) for her guest vocalist duties with Faithless and went on to better things.

The second disc, ‘Club’ is a total change of pace – personally, I recommend putting this on with the volume cranked up while engaged in large bouts of domestic duties because the energy is just infectious. Sister Bliss is in charge of editing, arranging and programming the nineteen tracks that appear here which she explains is no mean feat given that it is to roughly represent a typical two-hour set performed live, cut down to less than eighty minutes for a compact disc.

She also notes that to personalise the mix, she overlays some original keyboard parts, samples and beats. It definitely adds depth to the mix. Transition between tracks is seamless and there’s no surprises in this set.

The third and last disc ‘Home’ is put together by self-proclaimed Buddhist rapper and DJ, Maxi Jazz. This is my personal favourite out of the three discs. It is probably because it is reminiscent of living in Britain in the late seventies, early eighties – a time of major political instability and racial conflict (and some very groovy tunes and recreational drug use) – for instance the race riots in Brixton. A lot of the tracks have that sound that has influenced UK garage and grime. They also pay homage to musical roots from Jamaica and the West Indies, Africa and reaches as far as the African-American gospel tradition.

While a fellow Blogcritics colleague stated in his review that this compilation was somewhat disappointing, one has to remember that this is more of an anthology or document of Faithless’ history, a deeply personal and emotional history. To a lesser extent it also presents a slice of social history, particularly of London in the 1980s and 1990s. It’s not absolutely essential to one’s collection but it sure is enjoying some frequent listening on this end.

This article first appeared on Blogcritics at http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/09/26/014542.php viewable here. It also appears on Literary Illusions at http://literaryillusions.com/LIreviews/2007/02/26/cd-review-renaissance-3d-faithless/, viewable here.