Review - Mayonnaise, Brit rock

"I have mayonnaise on my sandwiches - why would you want to use it as the name of a group?"

Those immortal words, voiced by girlfriend sitting next to me as the CD played the first time, pretty much summed it up for me — I have never liked mayonnaise.

That hasn't changed.

I wanted to like this album, but, subjectively, it was too slow. If it's slow I tend to get dragged down. This was trance-like slow. I first played it at about 11:30, after a long Monday. It sent me off to bed.

The trio is Howie B., Will O' Donovan and Crispin Hunt. My first thought? If these guys are rap, they're going to have to kill to overcome those names.

But they're not rap. They're British. (OK Slick Rick proves that is stylishly possible).

I listened again when I was less tired and drunk. OK, not drunk.

It got better.

"Because of the Weather" mixes trip hop and the universal favorite subject of strained conversation everywhere - weather."

But it works.

It also provides the only words I can remember after listening to the album four times.

It's all laid back; layered and lush. As you would expect from three producers, also accomplished names of the British scene.

Certain secretive elements - similar to the electronic beats you get when your video game gets stuck - underlie, understated vocals.

Don't let me be your only guide. Hear for yourself. (PS, Thank you for the samples so thers can be as subjective as I).

A couple of the songs can be heard (via Realplayer) at Lunatic Works, an online lab of experimentation for a number of producers.

Overall, that overemphasis on knob-twiddling is what the album communicates to me. This is the result of over-experimentation and over-production; taking an idea to its infinite beyond.

For the most part it was beyond me.

Song List
1. Death Defying
2. To My Head
3. Blueberry
4. Because of the Weather
5. Time
6. Falling Star
7. Let's Get Out
8. Wild Eye'd Soul
9. Sky Came Down
10. Winter Song

Total playing time 37 minutes
Released to the Masses --- Sept 28, 2004

Article Author: Temple Stark

A graphic designing wordsmith, with a decade-plus career in community journalism behind me. Take a mean photo, have a new camera, and have been riding the wave of Twitter for more than a year.

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