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It would have been easy for Junkie XL (the man behind
the Elvis remix A Little Less Conversation) to have released an album
of Moby-like tracks - catchy big-beat loops and occasional vocals.
But Tom Holkenborg (JXL's real name) has done the opposite, producing an
album which is so diverse that its sense of coherence is impressive.
Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin
will gain sales from broad demographic, since it must hold the all-time
world record for "feat." tracks. A wide array of artistes perform, many of
them old-time, including Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), Gary
Numan, Saffron (Republika), Robert Smith (The Cure), Terry
Hall (The Specials), Grant Nicholas (Feeder), and Chuck D
(Public Enemy).
The most immediately impressive piece is the single
Catch Up To My Step. Solomon Burke's vocal and the heavy bass and
guitar riffs make it the most danceable track. Apart from this only Terry
Hall's Never Alone and Peter Tosh's Don't Wake Up Policemen reach any
level of hip-moving groove, driven by ska and dub four-to-the-floor.
Most other highlights depend on song-writing more than
production. Grant Nicholas' Broken has soothing and emotional big beats and
is one of the best songs on the album, matched only by Robert Smith's lovely
electro/Kraftwerk Perfect Blue Sky. Dave Gahan's Reload takes a
darker approach and comes a close second.
Chuck D raps up a storm over vocoders and big hip-hop
thuds in Access to the Excess, his flow still sounding good 10 years on. But
one flow that hasn't dated as well is Saffron's. Her high-energy
self-written tracks fit in to the album (impressive - since their production
is so '90s Republika-like), but her punk-like vocal is a little misplaced.
Radio JXL isn't a dance album, although it has some
quality dance vibes on it. Neither it it obsessed with cutting-edge
production - Holkenborg has the sense to make the focus the songwriting. In
the end it's the right production for the right song, and thankfully most of
the songs are right themselves. The XLent Junkie has pulled it all into a
diverse album that holds together, and which won't bore quickly.
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