Tracks For Horses

They Say...

Review by Ned Raggett, All Music Guide

Second in the series of compilations from the Manchester-based Melodic label, Tracks for Horses is a nicely varied collection that generally focuses on the more bucolic side of laptop electronics, though not without some interesting curves. Certainly opener "Lick Lokoum" by Baikonour is not out to overload, with acoustic guitar, spacy '70s keyboards, and soft hums and drones suggesting what the world would be like if Jean-Michel Jarre and Vangelis dominated all. Other songs, like "Softer, Dream, Safe" by Noos (admittedly the title almost says it all with that one) and Micah P. Hinson's concluding piano-only number, "The Cranes," contribute to the calmed feeling of the collection as a whole. Many of the acts put together older and newer styles reasonably enough -- the flutes and plucked strings on Pedro's "Folded Arms" get subjected to glitch-styled cut-ups and breaks, while the Earlies' calm but still exultant singalong "Bring It Back Again" is a real winner, massed vocals against an increasingly busy electronic shudder. The various diversions from the overall flow have their points, though, and often keep things from being too calm -- the Texas-based Notes have an OK bit of early De La Soul-styled hip-hop in "It's a Good Thing," while the disco-via-Daft Punk touches on No Talent Kid's "Mrs. H" and Minotaur Shock's "Big Light" make for a good time. And Audiowhore's goony chop-up into drill'n'bass madness on "It's Good But It's Not Right" shows there's a bit of life in both that musical style and using game show samples yet.