Vitriol

This compilation of 39 tracks, rather arrogantly titled The Album, offers a good mix of current guitar-based pop, rock and indie with the bonus of Fatboy Slim's housey "Star 69" and Roni Size's "Dirty Beats" tacked on the end. This is the sort of album you could expect to hear down the student union bar with a range of songs to cover all bases for even the most fussy of compilation critics. CD2 holds the indie-rock lighter in the air with Coldplay's "Trouble" and David Gray's "Late Night Radio" sandwiched between tracks by likely lads Supergrass ("Movin'") and Blur ("Coffee & TV"). Less obvious inclusions are alt.country masters Grandaddy ("The Crystal Lake") and gentle folkies the Kings of Convenience ("Toxic Girl"). CD1 is the less easy-listening of the two with some rock guitar riffing from the Manics ("You Stole The Sun…"), JJ72 ("Oxygen") and perfectly hip Placebo's "Taste In Men". If you're not into dance and the latest compilation from clubland isn't your cup of tea, then this could well be The Album before a good night out.

It is virtually impossible to write a review which does justice to this impressive release. No less than 4 CD’s at a time of one of the best dark ambient acts around, which has always stood more for quality than quantity. Since the early 90′s this German project, consisting of René Lehmann & Knut Enderlei, only released three albums, plus a couple of hard to obtain vinyl and tape releases and compilation appearances. All the material included in this boxset was recorded during live performances and rehearsal sessions. The recordings span almost their entire career, from 1995 to 2002, at appearances in Germany, France, Russia, Prague, the UK, the USA and Canada. While listening you will hardly notice that these are live recordings, since they were edited and mastered to create the highest possible sound quality…

It is virtually impossible to write a review which does justice to this impressive release. No less than 4 CD’s at a time of one of the best dark ambient acts around, which has always stood more for quality than quantity. Since the early 90′s this German project, consisting of René Lehmann & Knut Enderlei, only released three albums, plus a couple of hard to obtain vinyl and tape releases and compilation appearances. All the material included in this boxset was recorded during live performances and rehearsal sessions. The recordings span almost their entire career, from 1995 to 2002, at appearances in Germany, France, Russia, Prague, the UK, the USA and Canada. While listening you will hardly notice that these are live recordings, since they were edited and mastered to create the highest possible sound quality…