Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Noir Broadway, 11 May 2002
Compassion was first released at the beginning of last year, and received rave reviews then. After the initial copies sold out, and ahead of the second album, due out later this year, London based Memphis Industries are now finally re-releasing this classic with an additional CD, built around excerpts of rare EPs and unreleased tracks.
Brainchild of Dan Berridge, Broadway Project first emerged in 1999 with a handful of astonishing 12", followed by an album at the beginning of 2001. Dark, atmospheric and melodic, Compassion drew comparisons with artists as diverse as Tom Waits, Portishead, Boards Of Canada or Pink Floyd. Extremely ambitious, this album fuses jazz, avant-rock, experimental electronic, clever vocal samples and cinematic strings without compromising the integrity of the compositions. From the first moments of the dramatic Who's To Blame to the last bars of No Religion, Berridge continuously plays on the combined intensity of melodies, arrangements and vocal performances, offering some of the richest and most luxurious soundscapes heard in years. Berridge doesn't simply juxtapose genres; he truly integrates them to create a truly unique experience, building little vignettes of breathtaking beauty. From the apparent simplicity of Femme Fatale or Life Of A Refugee to the more open intricacy of Non-Resistance, with its vibrant contemporary orchestral harmonies, or the poignant London Broken Heart, Compassion amazes, moves, surprises and captivates endlessly with wonderful orchestrations and atmospheric melodies.
The additional recordings included on the second CD offer a slight different angle on Berridge's music. If the sound is as magnificent, the mood is lighter and fresher. Beautiful string whirlwinds lift Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, while the dreamy Recovery, which, more than any other compositions here sustains the Boards Of Canada comparison, seems more settled and straightforward, highlighting the more exhilarating side of Broadway Project.
Compassion is inhabited by the same 'noirceur ambiente' as Portishead's Dummy or Massive Attack's Mezzanine, but here, desperation often gives way to more positive feelings. Hidden behind his Broadway Project, Dan Berridge proves to be an amazing song writer and a pure melodist, with an incomparable style and personality. Compassion is an utterly essential record.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding, 19 Mar 2004
By A Customer
This is unequivocably one of the best albums from the dance/electronica left-field in the last five years and rival to DJ Shadow's Endtroducing as the high-point in sample-based instrumental music. Remarkably lush and always greater than a sum of its parts, Dan Berridge developes an astonishing melting pot of sound: broken, jazzy drum beats, crackling vinyl, haunted string segments, Ella Fitzgerald/Ertha Kitt-style 'borrowed' vocals, woozy tenor sax and mournful trumpets, and splices of rock guitar. From the swirling, creaking psychedelics of 'Born spirit' and the beautifully-sampled vocals and crackly acoustics of 'For the one', to the synthesiser-led lament of 'Life of a refugee' and literally heart-breaking 'London broken heart' - this album is constantly engaging and surprising in its use of samples (from Faith No More to Enio Morricone) and epic vision. Apparently this album was made while Berridge was suffering from the fatigue syndrome ME, and the album evokes a sadness and compassion for the state of planet as witnessed on television through the eyes of the bed-bound and world-weary. I cannot recommend this album enough, it has to be heard to be believed.
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