VARIOUS ARTISTS

Voodoo Roux Deux

Waveform (2002)

reviewed by Bill Binkelman

Featuring chill-out and dub-style ambient tracks by artists from Chicago to the UK to Sweden to Korea and more places in-between, Voodoo Roux Deux is a solid compilation that will satisfy your need for laid-back grooves, catchy melodies and sensuous rhythms, provided you don't mind some vocals (sung and spoken) added to the mix now and then. There really isn't a weak cut on the CD, although some are better than others at achieving that perfect chilled vibe. The opening track is one of the stronger efforts. "Chime" by Jairamji (Charlie Roscoe from the UK) opens the album with eight minutes of sexy polyrhythms, echoed piano, and a nice smooth undercurrent of synths and some female wordless vocals. I also liked Deep Dive Corporation's "Relaxer." This piece is the work of two German artists, and the song has a funky slow chill-out beat (bass, snare, and bass guitar) that is slowly enveloped by liquid-luscious keyboards, spacy synths and some snaky hand drums. It's got a seductive/mysterious spoken refrain too ("There's no way out.") that maneuvers the cut into private-eye cool territory.

Even the somewhat weaker tracks here are still worth listening to, so you won't be hitting your CD player's skip button, I'd imagine. Kama Sutra's "Robbery of Vibrations" overdoes the breathy spoken word vocal by a woman who offers up some silly sexy dialogue, but the music redeems the cut to some degree (the mix on headphones is nicely layered and the stereo effect is impressive). Holger Honda's "Banana Tribbio" features kinetic buzzing synths and pumping but subtle techno rhythms, however the track suffers a little for being on the long side (nearly eight minutes) considering that not much new is introduced throughout the duration except a scattering of assorted electronic effects and some glitchy beats. On the other hand, "Sleep at the Swamp" from Potlatch (hailing from Korea) has a nice Twin Peaks-creepy laid-back groove thing going. The electric piano on this song is particularly tasty as it floats over assorted mellow bass/snare beats.

Another personal favorite of mine is from Germany's X.I.S. (Xploring Inner Space). Their song, "Sun Walker (moon runner mix)," marries lush synths and a glitchy/dub midtempo rhythm. The keyboards have a nice spacy feel to them, especially the occasionally-used synth strings. I also like how other elements are introduced as the song progresses, such as Berlin school textures (sequenced notes over some tasty glitch beats).

If you're a fan of most of the music that comes out on the Waveform label these days, I think you'll agree with me that Voodoo Roux Deux represents the strongest effort from the label in a while. This may not break any molds in the dub/ambient genre, but it's not run of the mill either. These artists all offer up music of the "slightly to solidly" chilled variety, with some being more successful than others. But I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to dub or chill-out lovers.