DJ Alex Corton – Vinyl Reviews

Good Looking Records

Big Bud – Infinity + Infinity 

1999

Plate 2: Side C / D

Time to move onto the next two tracks on Big Bud’s essential installment of ‘Infinity + Infinity’. The two tracks for today continue the highly accomplished work of Robin O’Reilly, at a time when he was producing some of the best atmospheric drum and bass on the circuit. 

   ‘Chill’ is a tune that was featured on Progression Sessions 5, mixed by Bukem and featuring the lyrical harmonies of MC Conrad (R.I.P.) and Del ‘DRS’. It’s a great fun one to mix with too. Even from the beats which start this track, the liveliness and fusion slots into the psyche with ease. The first little breakdown injects the musical morphine and all the kaliedescopic flashbacks zoom in and out, blurring and fading, triggering the distant past of treasured days gone by. It’s a fantastic tune this which mellows out the tightly wound frustrations by untwisting the stress and laying out the pleasure in a potion of enlightenment and calm. The bassline bubbles along so fucking subtly, bringing a pretty complex harmony to the tune if you listen closely. It has its own riff in there. Brilliantly put together and another reason why this album is a must for every GLR head. 

    Speaking of must have tracks, this next one on Side D is up there with the very best of Big Bud’s music. ‘A Way Of Life’ demonstrates that music can be part of the daily living, breathing and blinking, in ways that go beyond our understanding. Bring a smoothly delivered beat up to a selection of broad sweeping pads, a fucking ludicrously infectious bass and then why not add in that sax for good measure. The good thing is with this is we get more.. the added break drops in and we then reach a breakdown that shreds the heart with pure, nerve aching emotion.  Paul Gordon is more known from the late 90s and early 2000s as an R&B vocalist, with his track featuring on all sorts of compilations, ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’. His vocals in here elevate the breakdown into a level of altitude we rarely hear. “Ahhhh wahaaa…Yeah yeaaaahh…how I’m feeling…it’s way of life”. 

   For those that know about the influence, the inner passion and way this music holds onto the seconds, minutes and hours within each day, you’ll know that tunes like this sum up our daily lives. Its the air we breath and the endless thoughts through time. It’s more than music. It is ‘A Way Of Life’.

   Disc three is up tomorrow with the last two tracks on this 3 x vinyl album. The good news is, we have the next Big Bud album up after this one. 

  My blog is continuing the journey through the catalogue too. I hope you enjoy reading it!