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Bandulu | Redemption

With their come-back Bandulu fight for promotion to the first division of dance.
CD, Music Man/N.E.W.S

Tekst: Omar Muñoz-Cremers

Publicatiedatum: 11 mei 2002

From 1992 to 1994 during the aftermath of rave, one could sense something of a Premier League of British techno being formed, groups trying to move into a more "musical" album-orientated direction, eventually becoming techno's supergroups: Underworld, Orbital, and Chemical Brothers. At that time, especially following the release of their debut Guidance, Bandulu were hot contenders for promotion to this Premier League. It was not to be, and after two more albums the group took a bit of a breather, concentrating on refining their live skills.
It's time to resurface in 2002, this time with a new album called Redemption. The trademark mixture of dub and techno, sometimes spiked with almost junglist rhythms, is still in evidence. As with a lot of dance groups who aim for an eclectic sound, Bandulu have a tendency to do only one genre really well, which eventually results in patchy albums. Redemption, as so many albums these days, is a pleasurable listen, it's well-produced, and features some excellent tracks. Fast and spacey tracks like Redemption Dub, 44100, and Rank all invoke Basic Channel's dub techno, especially in their more up-tempo Quadrant guise. Also worth mentioning are the old-style Bandulu track Wetlook, and the angular Knight Rider techno of Smooth Step. Taken together, one has a tight collection of banging dance floor fillers. Unfortunately, Bandulu also want to produce songs in the classic reggae tradition (one thinks here of Detention), which ends up sounding like a bad Stereo MC's track, and the opening Jahquarius features some dreadful new age lyrics (you just know when singer O'Connell sings "Some trust in silver" it's going to be followed by, yes you got it: "Some trust in gold."). A valiant return, but Redemption won't change Bandulu's status in techno, which amounts to a solid mid-table position in the second division.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/bandulu/redemption/1531/
Meer Bandulu op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/bandulu