Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Smashing Stuff, 29 Nov 2005
Ninja Tune house's some of the most beautiful, beguilng and interesting acts around and Blockhead's follow up to 2004's 'Music by Cavelight' is another down tempo gem. Featuring lovely plucked harps and string arrangements over cascading beats and samples of old show tunes, Tony Simon further fills the void that DJ Shadow left some time back now.Often described as instrumental hip-hop, sometimes even as cubist, Blockhead's world is one of fragile yet complex beauty. Opening track 'Expiration Date' is a perfect innvocation of Simon's odly moving style. 'Cherry Picker' and 'Art of Walking' whilst not a radical departure form tracks on the previous album, do lodge in your brain, at once feeling refreshingly familiar. Theres an organic warmth to this album, something missing from most electronic music. Downtown Science probably won't receive the widespread recogntion it deserves, but you get the impression that this will not bother its creator too much. Turn the lights down, stick on a pair of headphones and bask in the glow.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bonus., 4 Feb 2009
Although in a similar vein musically to Music by Cavelight this album just doesn't seem to grab you the same. This is possibly due to the inventiveness, care and attention that went into the first album making this seem not as special.
On the up side however, getting this version of the album with the bonus DVD is an excellent purchase as the DVD contains a selection of videos from Music by Cavelight. I would have given the money for this alone as they provide an excellent visual accompanyment to the tunes which comes in handy for any late night gatherings in which a little visual stimulation is appreciated.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Another glittering gem by Blockhead!, 6 Oct 2009
Tony Simon a.k.a. Blockhead first entered most people's conscious in 2004 by unleashing his fantastic debut for Ninja, melancholy-swamped 'Music By Cavelight' album. I was flabbergasted too. And Downtown Science seems to be its natural follow-up.
This album has a lot in common with its predecessor, true, but the overall impression is different. Tony again puts his domestic environment experiences and perceptions into the music to a big extent, but of course, as many forward-thinking artists, he obviously wants to develop as an artist. The listeners can however observe a development in the frame of this single album, too.
As to the musical contents, he again incorporates intelligent, abstract hip-hop beatwork, samples cut from American musicals, Ninja-esque nutty jazziness, smooth guitar tissues by Damien Paris, quite fitting woodwinds spiced with sometimes distorted female voices and apparently, manifold gimmicks in the form of surprising electronic sounds and effects are not omitted. In its entirety, it'd be not amiss to claim that the album is more varied in style than Music By Cavelight.
Some tracks (like jazzy 'Roll Out the Red Carpet'- a taunting hommage to Hollywood parties and the red carpet?) are tough enough to assess, but this is perhaps due to the fact that I ain't native English speaker. 'Expiration Date' and 'Serenade' (maybe even Cherry Picker)are both slightly acrimonious odes to unrequited love that from time to time you have to cope with in Manhattan. Then, since the fifth song - 'Crashing Down' - it focuses more and more on everyday life in downtown New York, musical expressions of life, people of all ages, all walks of life doing different things at different places, as you can otherwise see after you enfold the CD booklet.My personal favorite is probably 'Stop Motion Traffic'. The last four cuts are a sort of contemplation (American greediness, season change, praying?, ageing).
The album is must-have for intelligent-rap lovers and it's worth buying even because the second disc (DVD) contains the best (188 min total) video accompaniments to Music By Cavelight selected after the film-makers took their chances and generated the best they could at the moment. Really amazing. Go and buy it.
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See all 12 tracks on this disc
![Downtown Science [CD + DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41rr8vcETPL._SL75_SS50_.jpg)
