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Psychedelic alchemists Bombay Monkey may have begun their musical journey in Tunbridge Wells, but they're certainly not disgruntled. Ironically, the refreshing, exciting, inventive music on this album is about as far away from Kent's twee image as you can get.
130 Astronauts is part three in Bombay Monkey's trilogy of four parts - following 2005's Vanish and 2006's Time Travellers. But it is by their own admission, ''a dyslexic trilogy'' - the fourth and final part, Prophecy Of, will be, ''a kind of prequel really''. It seems their attitude to organisation is as laid-back as their style of music making.
This is the most upbeat offering so far - what Bombay Monkey themselves call their, ''Return Of The Jedi''. As the title suggests, space features heavily - with many of the film and TV clips that pepper the album of the sci-fi genre. There are vocals too, dreamily eccentric lines that float in and out of the guitars, strings, harps and beats. It's difficult to fathom that these individual masterpieces were created mostly in an overgrown garden (and, when that got too cold, indoors surrounded by tealights).
Bombay Monkey are the spaced-out sister to simian moniker buddies Gorillaz. There are also striking echoes of offbeat musos, The Avalanches. The whole album is brilliantly uplifting, though the indolently dreamy Head In The Clouds must be tipped as a highlight, along with sing-along anthem Love Makes The World Go Round, sure fire hit Istanbul Dub and moving album closer Try Again. But then there's not a single beat on 130 Astronauts that doesn't work.
They shy away from computers as much as they can - conceding rarely, as with the live shows when the new and vintage film clips present throughout their songs are mixed with cutting edge animation and screened behind them. As with the previous two discs, only 1000 hard copies of this album exist. As the Monkey boys say themselves in the sleeve notes, ''there will be no re-press''. So heed the primates and get yourself a copy of this infectious freewheeling number, pronto. --Sophie Bruce
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Format:Audio CD
`130 Monkeys' is the latest release by Bombay Monkey and is the third in a trilogy of four parts following `Vanish' (2005) and `Time Travellers' (2006). Themed loosely around space, `130 Astronauts' writhes with a quirky and leftfield `space-dialogue' charm plundered so fondly by cult acts such as Coldcut and Dimension X. Featuring a host of guests including Rosko John, Mr Thing, Red Eye, Sound Sanctuary and The Origamis, `130 Astronauts' was recorded at their own studio located on a very old farm in the Ashdown Forest. Utilising a hardened work-ethic and an old-skool ideology, Bombay Monkey have established a unique way of making music- avoid computers as much as possible, never use pre-sets and keep tracks short. Add to this the fact that classic vinyl and old television provide their biggest source of inspiration, leading to a sound that faithfully pitches the classics into the throes of a contemporised groove, and a live-show that showcases custom built visuals created from vintage and contemporary film clips and fresh animations.
With such a diverse appetite for sound and spoken word, Bombay Monkey blend their influences into one giant melting pot of sound. A sound that could so easily be lost in an unfocused blur of ill-fitting beats and unmelodious ceremony instead throbs with an enigmatic vivacity. Like Lemon Jelly running into an inebriated Mr Scruff at an Avalanches concert, Bombay Monkey churn out a fun and enthusiastic summer-time sound that reverberates with a cool retro-kitsch. Fusing the improbable, Bombay Monkey mesh surf guitars with 70's soul-grooves and classic sun-scorched Spanish vocal samples to funkadelic effect on tracks like `Istanbul Dub' and `Cha Cha Chaaa'. The spooky ball-room waltz and subtly crafted micro-jungle bassline warpage of `Soldiers of the Sun' makes for an exquisite `Billie Holiday' meets `Technical Itch' piece whilst `'Can You Transform?'s' barrage of spoken word and captivating crooning crumble fetchingly over a mellow soundscape of rolling melodies and cut'n'paste scratching. The introduction of Rosko John towards the end of the album totally makes you rethink what you are listening to as glistening folk-rock melodies drift effortlessly below Rosko John's tender vocal spread on the spectral `Head In The Clouds' and `Try Again'.
Staying true to their influences, `Bombay Monkey' successfully reconstruct and project these influences into their own vision- mixing the past with the present and the organic with the chemical. In the end, `130 Astronauts' proves to be a great album for the summer-time pre-festival lull and a perfect precursor to the new Mr Scruff album dropping this fall. (KS)
For fans of: Lemon Jelly, Mr Scruff, DJ Format
With such a diverse appetite for sound and spoken word, Bombay Monkey blend their influences into one giant melting pot of sound. A sound that could so easily be lost in an unfocused blur of ill-fitting beats and unmelodious ceremony instead throbs with an enigmatic vivacity. Like Lemon Jelly running into an inebriated Mr Scruff at an Avalanches concert, Bombay Monkey churn out a fun and enthusiastic summer-time sound that reverberates with a cool retro-kitsch. Fusing the improbable, Bombay Monkey mesh surf guitars with 70's soul-grooves and classic sun-scorched Spanish vocal samples to funkadelic effect on tracks like `Istanbul Dub' and `Cha Cha Chaaa'. The spooky ball-room waltz and subtly crafted micro-jungle bassline warpage of `Soldiers of the Sun' makes for an exquisite `Billie Holiday' meets `Technical Itch' piece whilst `'Can You Transform?'s' barrage of spoken word and captivating crooning crumble fetchingly over a mellow soundscape of rolling melodies and cut'n'paste scratching. The introduction of Rosko John towards the end of the album totally makes you rethink what you are listening to as glistening folk-rock melodies drift effortlessly below Rosko John's tender vocal spread on the spectral `Head In The Clouds' and `Try Again'.
Staying true to their influences, `Bombay Monkey' successfully reconstruct and project these influences into their own vision- mixing the past with the present and the organic with the chemical. In the end, `130 Astronauts' proves to be a great album for the summer-time pre-festival lull and a perfect precursor to the new Mr Scruff album dropping this fall. (KS)
For fans of: Lemon Jelly, Mr Scruff, DJ Format
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