 THAW - HOLY CAT
Modern Trance from Sam and Jym of Loop Guru
Best known for melding post-rave dance/trance with a scholary use of Far Eastern
music and samples, Loop Guru have been unfairly edged out of dance music history
by lesser populists and outright charlatans. Undiscouraged, Sam Dodson ala Salman
Gita and cohort "Mad Jym" return here with Thaw, the first new Guru project
in five years, " an ecstatic fusion of sacred chant and urban shamanic trance"
- in other words, more of the infinite same. Best here are " Love Me" -
"Give me you attention, I want you to love me" - a satire, perphaps, on
the spurious shamanism of celebrity culture, " No Separation" with its
fleeting nod to Debussy, and "Simplicity", an excurtion into mental galaxies
that leaves you happily stranded way, way inside you head.
David Strubbs - UNCUT MAGAZINE |
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THAW
Album > Holy Cat
Elsewhen
Rating > 7
Who? British ethno-trance-funk combo led by Sam Dodson and Jym Daly of the
genre's pioneers, Loop Guru.
Sounds Like : Exotic, psychedelic world-beat fusions designed to put listeners
in a ecstatic trance.
How is It ? Slightly less sacred-sounding than Loop Guru's sublime work, Holy
Cat aima more for the dancefloor than for the meditation room, and it'll put you
in arighteous lather.
Kindred spirits : Dj Cheb I Sabbath, Transglobal Underground, Banco De Gaia
Alternative Press |
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 THAW - HOLY CAT
Thaw is a side projectt of Loop Guru founders Sam and Mad Jym. While the duo doesn't
stray far from the template created by their more famous day project, Thaw does bring
some fresh new ideas to the table in a stagnanting ambient and downtempo scene.
Holy Cat is heavily influenced by the ambient works of obscure groups like Autechre,
but also introduces found sound snippets of devotional speakers as texture, a trademark
of their work with Loop Guru. Also making an apperance are beautiful vocal tracks
like "No Separation," which evokes memories of Portishead and Bjork's recent
collaborations with Matmos.
Holy Cart is a wonderful and intelligent release that combines the bestt ideas of
the glitch-hop laptop community with tthe verse chorus-verse sounds of traditional
pop music. Now where's the vinyl? Grade A+
Sean Michael Yoder - Campus Circle
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Thaw are the latest offshoot of Loop Guru, the London based global fusion duo whose
name has become synonymous with Summer festivals and blissed out breakbeats. Thaw's
debut album attempts to fuse together sacred chanting to a form of trance music.
It's a brave attempt and will no doubt enthrall those who have waited five years
for new material from Loop Guru.
The opening track 'Adi' is an excellent introduction to Thaw's music. It's reminiscent
of Trans-global Underground with it's ethereal vocals - as the track bounces through
it's seven minutes, vocalist Linda Conroy starts off like Natacha Atlas, before slowly
transforming into Bjork. The guitar that punctuates the track drives it along nicely
and you can imagine this going down a storm in various dance tents around the country
in the next few months.
The following track, 'Love Me' is built around samples of quotations from a spiritual
guru, Avatara Adi Di Samraj, a figure who features heavily on the album. If this
conjures up visions of Kula Shaker and their rather misguided Sanskrit lyrics a few
years ago, calm down - Thaw are obviously immersed in this culture and no matter
who off-putting an entire album of 'urban shamanic trance' may sound, they pull it
off.
Vocals on the album are shared between the aforementioned Linda Conboy, and Jacqueline
Clemons who demonstrates her quite beautifully rich voice on the ambient tinged 'No
Separations'. Clemons also shows up on 'Simplicity' which is reminiscent of Zero
Seven's recent output, and on the stand-out closing track, 'The Universal World Prayer',
which she also wrote.
This isn't a record to appeal to everyone - an hour long album of ancient chants
and trance backbeats can get heavy going, and 'I Bow Down' will test the most patient
of listener. However, Clemons' magnificent voice is demonstrated well here and hints
at a long future for her. If the recent release by Jah Wobble tempted you to further
expand your musical education, then invest in this and visit one of the many festivals
that Thaw are due to perform at this Summer. This probably makes even more sense
under a blistering sun, in the middle of a field somewhere.
John Murphy - Musicomh |
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3. THAW - HOLY CAT
Thaw is a side project of Loop Guru founders Sam and Mad Jym's side project bring
fresh ideas to the stagnant downtempo scene in the form of ambient loops and beautiful
and devotional vocals.
Campus Circle |
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 Thaw, trance e ritmi urbani.
Sam Dodson e Jym Daly, della
famiglia dei Loop Guru, si dilettano in questo cd a giocare con canti sacri, trance
sciamanica e ritmi urbani. Ne viene fuori un concentrato di sonorita' inizialmente
difficili da digerire ma che pian piano si insinuano nella mente sgombrandola da
tutto il resto. " Adi", "Java" e "Water Darshan" -
ma non sono da meno anche gli altri brani del cd, nove in tutto - forniscono, insomma,
una colonna sonora nutimento del nostro cervello. Una sfida allo stress ma anche
ai dilaganti contorsionismi new age contagiati dalle mode. "Holy Cat",
dunque, come egoismo musicale. In senso positivo, s'intende.
Dino Lodato - La Sicilia |
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Cd del duo londinese costola dei LOOP
GURU,
gli "elettrici" THAW
Si chiama «Holy Cat» ed e' il nuovo cd dei Thaw, duo londinese formato
da Sam e Jym dei Loop Guru. L'album e' appena entrato al decimo posto (con il brano
«The universal world prayer») della classifica di World Beat Radio Nyc,
emittente radiofonica americana che trasmette ogni venerdì dagli studi di New
York (in Italia si puo' ascoltare via Internet: www.live365.com/stations/287795).
Nove pezzi in tutto per un disco elettronico di grande effetto che mischia canti
sacri a contenuti urban dal ritmo intenso e ricco di melodie antico-moderne: «La
musica di devozione ñ dichiara Sam ñ era tradizionalmente ascoltata per condurre
la gente verso uno stato di "estasi autoindotta"; un antico impulso ormai
prosciugato dalle sonorita' della new age». I Loop Guru, che nel panorama internazionale
sono considerati fra i pionieri del processo di fusione globale della musica, hanno
raggiunto ben cinque volte lo status di «Single of the week» sulle prestigiose
riviste inglesi «NME» e «Melody Maker», oltre ad aver remixato
artisti del calibro di Jean Michael Jarre e Pop Eat Itself. Sempre ai vertici delle
hit mondiali, grazie alle tipiche sonorita' dance ed etnico-orientali drum and bass,
gli scalmanati Loop Guru nascono in Gran Bretagna nell'85 sfoderando subito uno stile
innovativo fatto di suoni naturali, voci e strumenti esotici. Capitanati dai leader
Jamuud e Salman Gita (all'anagrafe Sam Dodson) sfidano il predominio del trio rock
(chitarra, basso, batteria) e del synth-pop. Il loro passato e' legato anche alla
citta' dello Stretto, dove si sono fatti conoscere e apprezzare dai giovani per la
forte personalita' live. Nell'estate '97, durante i concerti in Fiera, proprio i
due inglesi Sam e Jym, qualche giorno prima dello spettacolo, hanno organizzato una
sorta di incursione notturna nella zona industriale di Messina per raccattare lamiere,
serbatoi e altro materiale metallico abbandonato, da utilizzare sul palco in appoggio
alla batteria: non avrebbero suonato senza i loro "strumenti". Entrati
in scena, il giorno dello show, si sono accorti che gli spettatori erano tutti seduti,
hanno cosi preteso che si alzassero per avvicinarsi al palco e ballare; fu un concerto
davvero straordinario.
Tito Cavaleri - La Gazzetta
del Sud |
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