When I was working in a record store (sadly, not a particularly good or respectable one) I used to be questioned by a succession of upper class nitwits if I had any chill out music for their upcoming dinner parties.
My yearning then would be to take a Jack Black stance and inform them that they could fuck off to the local Virgin or HMV and purchase them there. Sadly as I was lacking in spine I swallowed what little pride I had and pointed them on to the relevant section (it riled me further that we actually had to create a section of this music for these
idiots).
There was a time I enjoyed bands like Nightmares On Wax and Air. They took that Massive Attack Bristol scene trip hop ambience and combined it with lush orchestrations and jazzy textures to create these mellow instrumentals that, whilst not very groundbreaking, made up an interesting niche. Then came a succession of imitators, both band and D.J. who ripped out this template and squeezed all the life out from it. Groove Armada, Kinobe, Kruder and Dorfmeister are to name a few.
Compilations followed, even composers like Samuel Barber were thrown into the chill out mix. Trendy French D.J.'s, Claude Challe for example, from posh Parisian nightclubs like Les Bains and Buddha Bar combined the music with ethnic beats (Algerian, Arabic) to create a new sub genre.
The Dining Rooms would possibly fall into this last category. More
Hotel Costes in sound than Buddha Bar, the band consists of two Italian D.J.'s, Stefano Ghittoni and Cesare Malfatti who have filled Tre with the requisite jazz funk sounds needed for this kind of album. Another reference point would be prolific French artist Bertrand Burgalat and his 2001 record Sssound of Mmmusic. In fact the whole thing is all pretty predictable, from the kitsch 60's cover to the sounds it contains. This is not to say it is bad. Far from it. The music is lush and inviting. Whilst never in any way challenging, there is a
comforting retro feel that if it were not for the hundreds of similar
albums currently available, would be quite welcome. The opening two
tracks, Tunnel and La Citta Nuda are the strongest and as if to
emphasize its trendiness, there is a Sun Ra cover thrown in at the end.
Perhaps I am being a little unfair on Tre. After all the current Garage
Rock trend is in the midst of being beaten to death by every new band who had the bright idea to start their name off with 'The.' Maybe it is because this trend is the staple diet of rich people and models who spend their nights out frequenting members only nightclubs, sipping champagne and ludicrously priced spirits that it pisses me off so much. I think that is a pretty just reason.
Rating : 5 |