One thing that I love about a really good band is seeing them evolve. I first fell into Groove Armada by chance. Funny enough, I completely remember it. I was standing in Best Buy, and I had just discovered electronic, and more specifically downtempo music. I had never heard of Groove Armada, and honestly if I had, I may never have purchased Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub)
. So glad I did. They have quickly become one of my favorites. Since Goodbye, I have gotten my hands on everything of theirs available. Some of my favorites have been their mix albums, but I digress…
I started out by saying, I love it when bands evolve. Groove Armada has evolved from just creating beats and rhythms to creating great music (that is also danceable). Their latest album, Black Light
, I think is the most complete and best they’ve done since Goodbye Country (Hello Nightclub). I’ve had it now for about 2 weeks, and it hasn’t come out of rotation yet. Just not tired of it.
It definitely has the very current 80’s electronic/new wave revival feel to it. So much so, that it even features Bryan Ferry one of the big names of that era and early electronic music from Britain (where Groove Armada is from). The album as a whole has more of a conventional band feeling too, live drums, guitars, synthesizers, piano etc. Again a big departure from the original downtempo feel that I first heard, than the more hip hop and reggae sound of last album Soundboy Rock, and the really club house music they debuted with years ago.
My favorite tracks are Cards to Your Heart (featuring Nick Littlemore of Empire of the Sun), Shameless (featuring Bryan Ferry), and Time and Space (which features a lick that reminds me a lot of the “Up All Night” hook by the Boomtown Rats – intro music to the Jim Rome Show), but as I continue to listen as I write…I don’t know if there is a track I really don’t like.
Enjoy…
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