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Zenith Cafe

Caldo/Freddo is a double album of atmospheric dance, touching on and
blending genres like techno and trance into something original and unique.
Fibre, inhabits the same dark headspace as bands like Underworld and
Orbital. Electro fuelled beats and rubbery dirty guitar licks collide
headlong over whispered promises of musica. A claustrophobic atmosphere of
restrained trance keyboards underplays the track, never descending into the
cheesy clich? that all too often come with this territory.
Chinese Candy (House Mix), is another example of this atmospheric dark
trance, a tuneful slice of dance music shot through with a darker edge that
leaves a slightly uneasy feeling. Airbiscuit, seem to be a band balancing
between the chart friendly side of the dance scene but with enough of a
strange edge to keep things interesting.
As with a lot of dance music, theres usually a definite benefit to hearing
things in a club the way its intended to be heard, and this is true on a
number of tracks here. The various mixes of tracks on offer here have a
nice flow and vibe but can lose something in the cold light of day.
21st Century Man, is all squelchy bleeps and fast beats, a fast and furious
look back to the big beat movement of a few years ago. A real treat of
infectious beats.
Sublime, features some breathy female vocals over a bed of sparse beats and
juicy treated keyboard effects. Think Portishead meets the Chemical
Brothers, via Goldfrapp. A classy slice of updated Trip Hop.
Got Carter, with its jazzy brass sections and breezy guitar funk workouts is
an obvious piece of 70s influenced nostalgia. Also, probably the most
standout track on this entire album.
The warm keyboard introduction to, Wonderous, keeps the nostalgic 70s flow
going. Coming across as a melting pot of funk and soul, the funky
understated wah wah guitar injections add real atmosphere to proceedings
giving things that real late night hazy feeling.
Chalmed, is another track of dark beats and slightly surreal instrumentation
that leaves a lasting impression of originality.
As a double album of intelligent dance this is a record that mostly works.
Obviously as with most double records, there are certain tracks that get
lost along the way fading from your memory the second they've finished. And
as with a lot of double albums, could've probably benefited from being a
single. Still, there's enough good material here to really warrant a thorough
listen, a great blend of dark atmospheric trance and soulful funky late
night jams.

DISCOGRAPHY
CALDO/FREDDO (2004 - Zenith Cafe)
Fibre
Taken
Chinese Candy (House Mix)
Fundamental (Drum and Bass Mix)
Real (House Mix)
21st Century Man
Shine (House Mix)
Still (Extended Mix)
Sublime
Got Carter
Wonderous
Lately (Extended Mix)
Real
Baad
Shine
Chalmed

LINKS
Airbiscuit - www.airbiscuit.net
Zenith Cafe - www.zenithcafe.co.uk
Zenith Publishing - www.zenithpublishingltd.co.uk