Text Box: Text Box: Text Box: Bomb the Bass ‘Future Chaos’ (2008) 3/9/08 Finally it sees the light of day, Tom Simenon’s Bomb the Bass is back with eagerly-awaited album ‘Future Chaos’ and it’s worth the wait. Sounding like all good electro acts with a mixture of modern-day Nine Inch Nails and more than a hint of Gary Numan, legendary DJ Simenon delivers a varied new-wave box of tricks. The album starts mysteriously with opener ‘Smog’, featuring heavy Future Chaos collaborator Paul Conboy. A thumping, yet enigmatic musical journey across the electronic spectrum, just drawing you in long enough to realize something very special is at hand. First single ‘Butterfingers’ is a funky mash-up of a tune, showcasing Simeon’s and Muse’s new favourite weapon- the Moog synthesizer providing a haunting backdrop to a progressive beat. Mellow and deep vocals performed by Aphex Twin and Karate Kid inspired Fujiya and Miyagi, it’s a robotic but organized futuristic assault on modern music with a catchy vocal hook, more familiar with the modern indie scene. Conboy’s second contribution is the similarly dark ‘Old John’ and his pessimistic vocals do well to compliment the ultramodern vibe of the album, one of five tracks he lends his macabre sound to. ‘Burn the Bunker’ ups the tempo off into an unfamiliar tangent, almost drum-n-bass feel, whereas ‘So Special’ brings the mood back down into that unsure, unpredictable but highly comforted in sound feeling ‘Future Chaos’ emits. There is also a welcome partnership with husky ex-Queens of the Stone Age vocalist Mark Lanegan whose voice adds an earthy and relevant dimension to ‘Black River’. Clearly Simeon has not lost his ear for a good sound and this song adds a lot to the diverse texture of the collection. ‘Hold Me Up’ is a predominantly vocal-driven and is perhaps more representative of the new direction that Bomb the Bass wish to take. Future Chaos is a lot of different things, but what it is essentially is catchy and off-the-hook. Songs that gets caught in your head with a refreshing new-age theme- a forever delayed but typically laid-back nine-track assault, and most importantly just so different from the mainstream. 8/10 CM Text Box: Links and affiliates Contact Me