eMusic

Start Your Trial

Northern Star 2007

by

Groove Armada

 
  • Deal
Northern Star 2007
view larger image View Larger

Rate it!

Avg: 3.0 (43 ratings)

  • They Say...

    This is what happens when you let George Clinton fans start experimenting with ambient house. True -- unlike what their name probably implies, Groove Armada stumble off much more into funk's flamboyant territory than groove's hypnotic subtlety. Which actually isn't so bad. Because here in the band's debut album, Northern Star, such genre tweaking works nearly every time. You get the primal rhythms of "Entrance to Zanzibar" or the Air-like French house of "Dirty Listening," and it sounds soothing as well as unique. It's as if Ninja Tune's mischievous ambient artists (Funki Porcini, The Irresistible Force, etc.) were reinforced by small spikes of traditional melodies instead of just "quirky" samples. The album does tend to shilly-shally by repeating such tricks (the less said about "M2 Many," the better) -- possibly because the straight-ahead spectral ambience or hands-in-the-air booty shaking haven't bitten the band just yet. Even worse, why Groove Armada's majestic "At the River" is strangely absent from the album is anybody's guess (thankfully, rectified later in the band's Vertigo). Which means that as a statement, Northern Star might overall leave one with a plain aftertaste, but the smart laid-back funk of the album will surely have most curious palettes satisfied.

  • You Say...

    Write a Review

    I would like to say...

    Artist: Groove Armada

    Album: Northern Star 2007

    Review Title: (maximum 50 characters)

    Your Review: (maximum 1,000 characters)

    Cancel

    Please keep your comments to the recordings themselves, and be courteous and respectful. Thanks! For further info, read our Community Guidelines.

The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.


Rolling Stone
Start Your Trial

Recently Viewed

© 1998-2009 eMusic.com Inc. eMusic and the eMusic logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks in the USA or other countries. All rights reserved.

All Music Guide © 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC

Facebook®, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia® are registered trademarks of their respective owners, Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Neither Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. nor Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. are partners or sponsors of eMusic. eMusic uses the Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia API but is not endorsed or certified by Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia. eMusic does not pre-screen, monitor, endorse nor assume any liability for websites, contents, products, services or claims made by Facebook, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia®.