Today, I sat down and tried to recollect how long it had been since I last wrote something for Ciao. After a quick look at my neglected account page, I realised that it's been nearly 2 months or more since I put finger to keyboard for our consumer site. There have been many trials and tribulations in the life of Craiggy_Boy which meant that I either couldn't be bothered or didn't have the time to produce anything for Ciao, and it's also worth noting that the new payment system did little to form a good enough incentive to boost my flagging enthusiasm for op writing. You see, I was pretty annoyed when our good friends at Ciao decided to stop payments on virtually all areas of the entertainment section; it would appear that CDs and videos don't really qualify as consumer products worthy of payment for writing about and as this is what I tend to concentrate on dedicating my time to, I was a little miffed to say the least.

Anyway with my half hearted attempt at a sulk/rant at an end, I'll get back to business…

Now I love Leftfield and always have done ever since hearing "Song of life" way back in 1994 - it's graced many a compilation and has been championed by famous DJs in clubs world wide, thus making Leftfield a household name in the progressive dance scene. The release of the debut album Leftism came some years after the release of some of it's singles but it did very well nonetheless, revolutionising the way that dance music was performed and recorded. Leftfield had moved away from the more conventional way of making a dance album - producing a number of catchy chart toppers and filling up on shoddy B-sides; they were more interested in making an album as an entire product, to be listened to from start to finish which although contained singles, did not place to much emphasis on them or their position in the track listing.

I suppose that I'm writing this in a way that would suggest that people know a bit about Leftfield and I apologise for this, it's the kind of music that needs to be heard to be understood. I'll start by saying that Rhythm and Stealth is not an album for the faint hearted or a new comer to the genre. If you fancy something experimental and haven't really bought anything of this sort before, then I'd advise against it; Leftfield's approach is definitely fantastic but I wouldn't be surprised if a listen to this album would leave many people cold; you should maybe try an album like Vertigo by Groove Armada which preaches some of the same principles but with a much less clinical angle on production.

If you're after something rich in melodies and vocal work then I'd stop right here, Rhythm and Stealth just isn't about that. Most tracks, even the chilled numbers such as El-Cid are cold sounding and don't have that quality of warmth and richness that earlier releases such as Release the Pressure possess. The variation in the album doesn't lie so much in the melodies but more in the production work and structuring. Percussion and LFOs fade in and out of being from track to track and the years that the duo spent producing remixes in the early 90s have meant that a track can remain long with only subtle changes being implemented without making a track appear dull or monotonous.

Beyond this point, the album takes on a more laid back vibe, whilst tending towards a more industrial sound. 6/8 War in particular is verging on the Nine Inch Nails industrial sound whilst " " is verging on the analogue end of trip-hop. In some ways the critics of this album may have a point, it isn't a masterpiece of melodies and rich ideas, but what it does is stretch the fabric of "Dance" to its very limits making even the most cynical dance "4 on the floor" hater think again.

A happy new year to you all
Take care