Another Late Night - Groove Armada [CD]

Once again the pair that form Groove Armarda have delivered the goods in what can only be described as one of the best collections of post modern funk. That is given the very distinctive Groove sound....... the re-working of the Frank Sinatra classic, just brings you into the album before hitting you with classic after calssic... all in the style that the have very much made their own. All I can say is congratulations on creating an album that will very rarely leave the draw of my CD Player.

Welcome to my review of Groove Armada's Late Night Tales.

Coming to this series as a "newbie" I must admit I can't say I have much experience with the other titles but I feel I can post my thoughts on this release after listening to it a fair few times :-)

Having listened to more than my fair share of "Chillout" / "afterparty" albums in my time I have found a niche that I quite enjoy, that of the Art of Chill / Euphoria Chill albums (The first two, mixed by Red Jerry). Now I can see where people might bite my head off, "they are more commercial releases", "not as original as others out there" and so on. Whilst I agree that they are not as mesmerisingly good as they were when first released they do hold their own, I feel, when looking for an album to relax to after a rather hectic nights hedonism!

As mentioned, I'm new to this series and perhaps I need to listen to a few of the other albums available but I can't say I felt particularly chilled after listening to it. Yes there were some great moments (as others have mentioned, not really worth repeating except to say I'll join in the encore for more!).

I've given it around 5 complete "listen throughs" and I still end up wishing for that little extra bit of magic that would turn it into a really enjoyable album for me.

Going into it with an open mind though, I can say that some of the tracks themselves are very strong, even though they are not really what I would call "chillout". I'd sooner compare it to Chicane Presents Visions of Ibiza as I feel a similar way about that album. Obviously that one has a more Balearic "feel" to it but I feel the range of tracks and the breadth of artists having been chosen is quite similar in that there aren't many "mainstream" tracks being showcased (there are other "series" out there for that kind of album).

A very strong 3/5 from me, probably a 4/5 but I just don't feel able to give it that extra star as it didn't really give me what I was looking for.

One sentence summary?

"Good album, exposing a lot of hidden talent, but not really a first choice if you are looking for that "sunrise" balearic chill music."

Be warned, as with all of their previous albums you won't know what to expect. It takes a couple of plays of the album at first, but once the initial honeymoon period is over you definitely won't want to put this album down! From soulful 70's to modern day chill out, this has it all.

Groove Armada have once again managed to combine all the qualities that make for a truly enjoyable mix of enspiring music. You'll be proud to have this one in your CD collection....