Search - Various Artists, thievery corporation :: Babylon Central (W/Dvd) (Dlx) (Dig)

Babylon Central - A Great Soundtrack of Reggae And More

Mark | East Coast | 07/19/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Babylon Central is a great album of new and remixed music. My thoughts about this album have evolved over the first day of listening to it. It's an interesting collection of songs that has good replay value for a relaxing afternoon at home or a get-together. The majority of tracks are instrumentals, but I wouldn't consider this an instrumental album. The included tracks are perhaps more accessible as a whole than most instrumentals.



This soundtrack is for the film 'Babylon Central,' a project of Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation. I have a few Thievery Corporation albums but this soundtrack caught me off guard. Their music is really a mix of classic roots reggae and rock that I would call politically aware. This soundtrack mixes a lot of musical styles, including roots, rockers, alternative, jazz and rock.



The vocal tracks are bookended on the album. "Leaving Babylon" is a classically styled reggae tune from former hardcore pioneers Bad Brains. "Hang On In There" is a soulful positive tune from Mike Kirkland. There's an interesting tempo shift in the middle of the song that is reminiscent of Sly and the Family Stone's "Family Affair." Max Romeo's "I Chase The Devil" is a great reggae tune that has a catchy melody and thought provoking lyrics. And Thievery Corporations "Amerimacka" is a nice sounding remix of a great tune more in keeping with their albums.



Some tracks are only "quasi-instrumentals" and include some vocals as mood elements. "79 Rock" has more of a modern dancehall reggae flavor, with some vocal flurries peppered throughout. "Rockers Galore" mixes some club beats in too along with the titular rockers baseline and some samples. Halfway though the song, there is a break before some looping vocals kick in. "Paz" by Troubleman is a cool ambient tune with a haunting Portuguese vocal. And "Promise Me" has a bluesy soulful vocal over an equally haunting instrumental section.



But the lion's share of music here is made up of a number of really good instrumentals. They run the gamut of musical genres from reggae to house music. "Hung Up On My Baby" is a chill reggae instrumental of a song with a classic melody. "Freedom" has more of a club music feel with some Fela Kuti styled horns thrown in for good measure. In fact a few tracks reminded me of classic Fela Kuti, including Thievery Corporation's "Coming From The Top" with its brass section intro and BCSS's "Putney" with its reggae rhythm and trumpet flurries. Their "Shiva" is more in the Acoustic Alchemy vein with some brief Hindi sprinkled in the middle.



"Come Live With Me" is more of a rock instrumental with a dreamy piano undertone, while "Flinto" is more of a classic Jazz tune.



CONCLUSION



This is an incredibly well produced soundtrack that might very well make it onto several best-of lists. This could certainly be considered a reggae album, though it fits in nicely in the alternative and indie categories and is destined to be on the list of world music aficionados. Most importantly, this soundtrack's diversity might be reason for some of these songs getting played in clubs where Thievery Corporation could find new audiences for their music.



This is definitely recommended.



Enjoy."