Lionrock
An Instinct For Detection
(Time Bomb/Deconstruction)
This album came out several years ago and I'd always seen it around (they've since released a second album called City Delirious), but finally the chance arose and I couldn't pass it up any longer. The only thing that I'd actually heard from the group was a cool track off the superstar soundtrack for City Of Industry (but who's seen the movie?) that also included Tricky, Death In Vegas, Bomb The Bass and others. As a proper debut album, An Instinct For Detection is quite an ambitious load. It clocks in at 2 CDs and going on 120 minutes worth of music.
As one might be able to detect (pun intended) from the cover, there's sort of an underlying British investigator motif that runs as odd (but fun) samples throughout the discs. The music is very well constructed and borders on the edge of big beat, although it never really beats you over the head as most albums in the genre tend to. On some songs, unobtrusive vocals are added to the mix, but don't take away from the songs at all. If anything, the accent and cool almost spoken-word delivery add something interesting. While the second disc is mainly remixes and different versions of tracks on the first disc (including one mix by the Chemical Brothers), it's a nice little bonus to have and for the most part the new mixes sound individual enough anyway. Solid.
Rating: 7.25
