Album Review

Avante garde popmusos delight.

Zero 7 have just released a double CD of their best bits from the past and present with an additional disc of remixes from the likes of Carl Craig, Metronomy, Photek, Joker and Madlib.

To the uninitiated, those names will mean nothing, but clearly Zero 7 have enough confidence to bring them on board.

The second disc is for the hardcore fans, so its CD1 is where the action takes place.

The Grammy nominated duo Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker- have consistently turned out quality down-tempo gems, but not broadly appealing and truly memorable ones, since they first emerged on the music scene eleven years ago, and theyve hardly been prolific album-wise, with only four albums between 2001 and 2009.

The problem, commercially anyway, lies in the fact that youre hard pressed to recall a particular song you know, that ear-worm effect, nevertheless, what they do is quality. Effectively theyre a niche act with some singles not even entering the charts though this is not a singles album per say.

Z7s masterstroke has been to use guest singers such as Sia, Mozez and Sophie Barker, who gave stylish contributions.

Culled from those four releases Simple Things (2001) When It Falls (2004) The Garden (2006) and latterly Yeah Ghost (2009) we get Destiny the duos debut single, which struggled up number 30,as track 4.

Its the Crosby Stills Nash & Young-tinged Futures that introduces the collection bringing back the halcyon days of late 60s country- folk with a modern twist, while I Have Seen has a laidback groove-line and emotionless vocal. The pace quickens on Youre My Flame, their 2006 single (UK chart #103) with some fine female vocals and shiny harmonies to the nifty beat.

Snail-paced Destiny has a dream-like state that meanders with some effective sonic drop-ins bringing out an urban coolness thats hard to ignore.

Polaris (a none single instrumental) is total self-indulgence that has more to do with studio FX than structured songwriting.

Lazy, Home, is by far the standout track with dollops of jazzy inserts and sublime vocals, by one of the aforementioned ladies.

A funky, quirky and beefy Mr. Ghee sees Z7 explode from their comfort zone and should have been a single, just to prove they can veer from their usual template. The run-in has the same snoozy groove, with Distraction, being the only (excuse the pun) distraction, simply because its beautiful, though instrumental, and appropriately lilted, End Theme, is very impressive.