Subway - Subway II download free

What a totally mind blowing, heart felt album!!! Soul Jazz Records have done very well to pick this up, as I believe it will remain one of those hidden, slightly obscure, gems that many people will discover and rediscover time and time again... Where to start? Well... Firstly let's check out who Subway are... They are a dynamic duo, consisting of Alan James and Michael Kirkman, who operate out of their East London play pad of a home studio. Having released a steady stream of techno/house over the last eight years or so, they now return with their first full length album since 2005's 'Empty Head' set. And its not to be overlooked! While there's no radical departure from their previous style, they stick to what they do best with intuitive dance floor jams and their spacey head-music sound, like they could have come from any point between the late 70's and today with elements of New Yor City avant-disco, Krautrock, German electronics, Radiophonic ephemera, UK ambient dub and proto-house, all sculpted into a very unique sound. For me, this album SPURTS a cosmic vibe that I just haven't heard, OR even felt, in a lot of modern day music for quite sometime now... While it never really gets complex in arrangements (like the Tuss' arrangements might), being mainly just constructions of simple but uplifting arpeggios, jolly synth rifts, with some pulsing patterns all interwoven with steady tempo four to the floor beats... These tracks shimmer with a heady, spaced out vibe that reminds me of the Orb's UFO album... Except this is way better! In fact, I made a mix last night for some friends, and ran the track "Lowlife" straight into "The Blue Room"... And they merged like men and women do on soft satin sheets, with pulses racing and emotions flowing. The first three tracks ("Persuasion", "Lowlife" and "Simplex") are uptempo dance numbers that wouldn't be out of place in any house/techno set... Then the CD version of the album departs into the slightly slower, krautrock trip of an ambient track "Harmonia". Lots of delay, it throbs as a Neu vibe to the accolade of all that Can, Faust and Kraftwerk discovered. Then the little blip trip of "Jupiter" pitter/patters out into a refreshing sorbet for the mind before dipping into the deeper, darker electric sparks of "Monochrome". After this the listener is exposed to "Horizons", which is a brief but very enjoyable interlude, building up and welling over beautifully panned out sonic fluctuations... But for me the last two tracks are the crowning pinnacle of this album. "Delta II" is a beautifully crafted downtempo wonder made up of progressive jitters of vintage analog synths, layered over a steady electro beat... This track just oozes Orb like sensibilities! Not to mention "XAM" has already rocked the three parties I've played it at, where many people have just comes up to ask me "what the hell is this tune!!!" 5 rewinds to date... And more to follow soon. Glad I got me two vinyl copies of this. And even more impressive... Is that it's vintage roots don't just stop there... The list of equipment used to fashion this album includes an enviable roll call of Roland Jupiter 6, Korg MS20, Univox SR55, Roland MKS80, and a Moog Prodigy alongside the usual guitars, drums and tape loops proves that these guys are a fully lost in the analog outfitters of the past, merging all the best aspects of music past with their own arrangement skills. Whether drifting languidly through ambient meters, or pulsing to house/techno grooves, this album is just so damn danceable!!! And what with the panning of some of the rhythmic elements in their respective grooves, I get lost again and again and again and again and again, never getting bored, thinking of the higher magic of our existence here on Earth. Which is quite apt really, as I've just noticed what Sould Jazz Records wrote about this album on their website: "This album is a cosmic progression of post-dance music, focused more on meditative thought and space than one made for the dancefloor, yet still encompassing the rhythm and constant beat at the heart." All in all there is no doubt that this record will remain in my record box (and heart) for a very long time to come... Easily 5/5