Notes Junky

Yeah, so this is better than I thought it’d be. The first Beat Hackers album didn’t please me in the slightest, and I don’t recall being specifically impressed with any of the compilation tracks between that and this.

Nevertheless, I listened to this with open ears (if you know what I mean) and have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Notes Junky isn’t going to win any awards for originality, nor is it going to win any awards for 120% Full Powah Dancefloor Mayhem. It’s a relaxed, laidback album where the music – shock horror – is allowed to move at its own pace.

DMI has a Terance McKenna sample, something that would normally make me kill myself but thanks to a well-conceived end run, makes me live another day; meanwhile Beat De Lucia has all the ingredients of shitmusic, but somehow manages to spin it into something fresh, cohesive, and strangely likeable.

Experience has charming acid and a silly, smiling groove while the title track brings in live instruments and creates something that’s interesting, albeit with a slight cheeseytaste bypass.

The comparisons with Infected Mushroom are still there (evidence; Move With The Groove, Beat Theater and the intriguingly-titled The Big Fraud) but Guy Peled now has enough of his own style to carry his own music.

At the end of the day, Notes Junky is an interesting album that’s probably more lasting than a lot of other albums around at the moment. It makes for a pleasant listen, but it’s not the shattering slab of essential trance that one thinks it’s trying to be.