ESL Soundtracks: Modular Systems [Soundtrack]

Product Description
Compiled by Thievery Corporation, this is a brand new collection of tracks from ESL Music artists. It is the first time these cuts have been available on CD and the collection is a great introduction to some of the new ESL artists. Also, there are two very rare Thievery Corporation tracks and two remixes. This release is in the tradition of Dubbed Out in DC and Covert Operations. 13 tracks. 2001 release.

Tracks:

Arabesque - Nicola Conte
On The Sly - Thunderball
Your Girl - Blue States
Bario Alto - Thievery Corporation
Mr. Hrundi's Holiday (Karminsky Experience Mix) - Ursula 1000
For The Trees - Desmond Williams
Bossa Per Due (Thievery Corporation Mix) - Nicola Conte
Pop The Trunk (Thievery Corporation Mix) - Thunderball
Pit Stop - Farid
Comeback Dub - Desmond Williams
Golden Touch - Blues States
Solar - Thunderball
A Guide For I And I - Thievery Corporation

Album Description

Compiled by Thievery Corporation, this is a brand new collection of tracks from ESL Music artists. It is the first time these cuts have been available on CD and the collection is a great introduction to some of the new ESL artists. Also, there are two very rare Thievery Corporation tracks and two remixes. This release is in the tradition of Dubbed Out in DC and Covert Operations. 13 tracks. 2001 release.

Customer Reviews:

Who knew DC could be this cool?!?!.......2005-06-14

...excuse me??? Well it's no NY City, but we can hold our own, thank you very much~ we're just more subtle... and the deeper you go into the nightlife, the more fun it gets. Seriously, with all these embassies & dignetaries, the international flow was bound to happen-- these people have children who love to party! Anyway... this CD kicks serious derrière-- everything you love about lush, sophisticated chill music is right here. Beautiful....

The Best ESL Compilation.......2004-06-29

In my mind this is the best compilation from ESL. The whole groovy soundscape is all on this one cd. Knockout tracks "On the Sly" by Thunderball, "Your Girl" by Blue States, and an unrealeased track "Bario Alto" by Thievery Corporation (some great guitar on this track) are all included on this disk. Anyone intersted in the ESL sound or any of their artists pickup this cd and give your ears a treat.

Another smooth concoction from our friends at ESL Music.......2001-06-25

The third CD-compilation from our friends at Eighteenth Street Lounge Music, Modular Systems, is compellingly fresh yet pleasantly familiar.. listening to it will remind you of why you love them and their Lounge so much: this stuff makes you feel so good!

But if you're not already a fan, and/or don't know most of the artists, then what better opportunity to get acquainted with the sounds they make?

From the classic Bossa Nova rhythms of Nicola Conte, to the hi-tech deep-Dub-bass (sometimes Drum-n-Bass) beats of Thunderball (who checks in with a couple of GREAT new tracks), Modular Systems won't disappoint you. Thievery Corporation also checks in with a couple of new ones.. "Bario Alto" will keep your foot tapping, and "A Guide for I and I" will definitely have your head bobbing. Desmond Williams and Farid add a few essential ingredients for the Reggae and Dub flavor. Blue States and Ursula1000 also compliment the overall taste, but I woudn't be honest if I said I liked them as much as I do the others.

If my comments had been solicited on Modular Systems prior to its release, I would have requested that Track 13 be longer. I mean, it's good... but listening to it is like drinking a bottle of Frappacino - you invariably want more because that little 8oz bottle just isn't enough! Why don't they sell bigger bottles!? Why can't track 13 be longer? ;-)

But that's not important. What is important is that you at listen and decide for yourself, so check out the sound clips that Amazon provides.

So.. this CD has some new stuff, some older stuff, and some remixed stuff... I won't say you'll like ALL the tracks (I don't) but if you like the first four, then you'll like most of them. If you really want the Ultimate ESL Cocktail, then get this and their debut compilation (ESL: Vol.1 The Soundtrack; ASIN:B00000DTQW) and combine the best tracks from both - that's what I did!

Cheers,
Scot

THE EIGHTEENTH STREET GANG GANGS UP.......2001-05-31

To those initiated and those not, this is a compilation of artists assembled on Washington D.C.'s Eighteenth Street Lounge Music label. To my listening ears, there's not a whole lot here to recommend dropping the required bucks on. Maybe as an entree to this stable of artists if one is unfamiliar, especially founding fathers Thievery Corporation and a recent addition, Blue States. Their tracks are by far, the strongest, along with Thievery's two mixes for Nicola Conte and Thunderball. The other seven tracks have so much a sameness to them that for lounge music they carry the danger of putting one to sleep in their chair. This genre has a narrow range of expansion and thus, the copycat complex abounds. The ideas sound played and tired. What's to be done? Rob Garza and Eric Hilton are geniuses. No doubt. But their style-over-substance sound in the hands of others can result in a two-dimensional experience lacking in lounge's essential ingredient: atmosphere. Without it, the listener is left sitting in some dark and smoky room, cocktail in hand, waiting into the early morning hours to be transported beyond their mundane surroundings in some imaginary jet headed for far more exotic climes and intrigues. And for sure that's a shame. No, it's criminal.

more great grooves from ESL.......2001-05-24

Although several of these tracks have been available on vinyl for quite some time, this disc flows well. Following in the tradition of the earlier 18th street lounge complications, modular systems is put together like a night out at the club. Opening with sophisticated continental sounds, and sliding into heavier beats as the evening wears on... sit back and enjoy, until it's time to go buy the next ESL release, which is the debut CD from Nicola Conte coming soon.

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