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By the mid-'90s, Material was simply another word for Bill Laswell, so as Laswell's fascination with ambient mysticism grew, so did Material's tendencies in that direction. After 1991's dark and reggae-inflected The Third Power, Hallucination Engine's long, spacy jams aren't exactly a dramatic departure, but the combination of Wayne Shorter and various North African elements is certainly interesting. In fact, the array of guest musicians is more diverse than ever: Trilok Gurtu, Jonas Hellborg, Zakir Hussain, Bootsy Collins -- the list goes on and on and even includes William Burroughs (who intones a hilarious list of "Words of Advice" over a churning mid-tempo funk groove). In his ambient mode, Laswell has been accused of turning too little music into too much track length, and there's some justice to those criticisms; here, "Black Light" and the unbelievably well-named "Eternal Drift" both plod along for far too long with far too little development. But that William Burroughs track kicks in just as you're about to fall asleep, and it's followed immediately by a very funky and very jazzy remix of "Cucumber Slumber." "The Hidden Garden/Naima" proposes an interesting juxtaposition of Arabic pop song and modal jazz, with dramatic and beautiful results, while "Shadows of Paradise" brings the album to a close with a gentle whimper, not a bang.
© Rick Anderson /TiVo
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Bill Laswell, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Wayne Shorter, ComposerLyricist - Material, MainArtist
℗ 1994 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Shankar, ComposerLyricist - Bill Laswell, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Caroline, ComposerLyricist - Material, MainArtist
℗ 1994 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Bill Laswell, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Material, MainArtist
℗ 1994 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Nicky Skopelitis, ComposerLyricist - Bill Laswell, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Material, MainArtist
℗ 1994 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Bill Laswell, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Material, MainArtist - William S. Burroughs, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1994 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Alphonso Johnson, ComposerLyricist - Bill Laswell, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Joe Zawinul, ComposerLyricist - Material, MainArtist
℗ 1994 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Nicky Skopelitis, ComposerLyricist - John Coltrane, ComposerLyricist - Bill Laswell, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Simon Shaheen, ComposerLyricist - Material, MainArtist
℗ 1994 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Nicky Skopelitis, ComposerLyricist - Bill Laswell, Producer, Recording Arranger, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Material, MainArtist - Caroline Shankar, ComposerLyricist
℗ 1994 UMG Recordings, Inc.
Album review
By the mid-'90s, Material was simply another word for Bill Laswell, so as Laswell's fascination with ambient mysticism grew, so did Material's tendencies in that direction. After 1991's dark and reggae-inflected The Third Power, Hallucination Engine's long, spacy jams aren't exactly a dramatic departure, but the combination of Wayne Shorter and various North African elements is certainly interesting. In fact, the array of guest musicians is more diverse than ever: Trilok Gurtu, Jonas Hellborg, Zakir Hussain, Bootsy Collins -- the list goes on and on and even includes William Burroughs (who intones a hilarious list of "Words of Advice" over a churning mid-tempo funk groove). In his ambient mode, Laswell has been accused of turning too little music into too much track length, and there's some justice to those criticisms; here, "Black Light" and the unbelievably well-named "Eternal Drift" both plod along for far too long with far too little development. But that William Burroughs track kicks in just as you're about to fall asleep, and it's followed immediately by a very funky and very jazzy remix of "Cucumber Slumber." "The Hidden Garden/Naima" proposes an interesting juxtaposition of Arabic pop song and modal jazz, with dramatic and beautiful results, while "Shadows of Paradise" brings the album to a close with a gentle whimper, not a bang.
© Rick Anderson /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 8 track(s)
- Total length: 01:06:56
- Main artists: Material
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Island Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock
© 1994 UMG Recordings, Inc. ℗ 1994 UMG Recordings, Inc.
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