Downtempo and chill but still interesting: Massive Attack v Mad Professor

Album cover: Massive Attack vs. Mad Professor

Album cover: Massive Attack vs. Mad ProfessorDon’t let the cover fool you, this album is full of chill. No Protection (1995) by Massive Attack v. Mad Professor is nearly 50 minutes of slow, throbbing remix of (most of) Massive Attack’s Protection from 1994.

Want an album to put on in the background while you work? This is a great disc when you need all the language centers of your brain on full but need the lizard brain to chill out.

Want an album to chill out to and just appreciate the sonic textures and waves of music? No Protection also fits the bill. If I’m being honest, I’m more likely to reach for this than the album that was parted out to make it. Kudos to the band for recognizing how good the first track Mad Professor remixed was and asking the prof to go after the full album.

If you haven’t listened to it before, give it a try. If you have, I probably don’t have to tell you to give it another go.

“Hallucination Engine” by Material (No. 83)

Album cover: Material's Halluciation Engine

Today’s pick, Hallucination Engine by Material is a bit of a sharp departure from the likes of The Who, L7, Rollins Band, and the rest of the list so far – excepting, perhaps, Steven Jessie Bernstein.

Where I mostly go for straight-forward classic rock, hard rock, or alternative, Hallucination Engine mostly instrumental, or only features background chants or singing – and much of that not in English, so that the vocals are also treated as another instrument or texture in the fabric of the song. Continue reading ““Hallucination Engine” by Material (No. 83)”