I expected more hype about this, but there are plenty of other reviews out there......
My love of Sherwood stems from the 1st two Mark Stewart & The Mafia albums, manic production ideals never to be heard again on anything else in my opinion. Don't take that as a criticism, Adrain Sherwood would never have been able to keep the pace plying that amount of craziness in that period in history. 1st and foremost he is a dub producer, so those amazing industrial productions and remixes were of the time and set him in stone.
I'm not familiar with Pinch's work so I cannot be biased here. So IMO, It's definitely modern and maybe I need someone else to advise me in what category it stand with regards to modern genres. It's great to hear that Sherwood touch in something modern, but I can't help feel disappointed and am not sure what my feelings represent whenI hear a blatant Sherwood sample that I've heard on something from around 83 on this album. It crops up quite regularly and at that point I feel slightly nostalgic yet vaguely ripped off.
The album does take until half way to really get a grip, those Sherwood effects really are still there, mix it with a bit of those wobbly basslines and up to date rhythms. The subsonics really mean you have to playback on something that is going to manage, otherwise, you miss the total point....is it late night or what? Well it's not prime time floor filler, but by the time it's finished, you really want it to start again or go on longer.
As we are talking sounds here, there is a great new industrial kick being used...where as your usual artist would be using a dumpff or a reinforced 808 kick...these two have found something that does the same, but starts with a lot more of a high end slap, it's refreshing and on phones its going to scare the shit out of you......they don't overuse it.
As is so typical for projects when more than one hailed genius gets together with another, it doesn't match the hype.
There's a lot going on here and it may or maynot be a great initiation tool for the Sherwood naive.........or maybe just wait for Sherwood At the Controls Vol 1