Songs (Click the -icons
for some small realaudio-samples)
1.
The Power of the Flower
2. Love
3. Meditation
4. Keep The Dream Alive
5. Pittsburgh Angel
6. Sayonara Greetings
7. Dreamcatcher
8. Turn Me On
9. Northern Lights
10. The Moon
11. Immortal Sin
12. Eyeless in El Paso
If you're lucky, you can still find the "limited"
version with an extra cd containing:
1. The Power of The Flower (Junkie XL remix)
2. Lonely (The Program Remix)
3. Luv U Still (Dave Angel Remix)
4. Breakfast in Vegas (Hard Rock with C.S.J.)
5. Trippin' On Music
6. Breakfast in Vegas (video)
7. Lonely (video)
8. Visions & Imaginations (video)
9. The Power of the Flower (video)
10. My Mind is My Enemy (Live in Providence, USA)
and a "Mutant" screensaver
Written & Arranged by Oliver Adams & Praga Khan (except
12, with Carl S. Johanson)
Musicians:
- Praga Khan (vocals & keyboards)
- Olivier Adams (drums)
- Erhan Kurkun (guitars)
- Hans X (bass)
- Ester (vocals & dancer)
Produced by Praga Khan & Oliver Adams
Artwork : Topfloor
My opinion
"Hats off", is what i'd say to Praga
Khan. Quite an accomplishment, what they're doing (insert here a refrain that
is beginning to get quite boring on how in god's name it is possible that a group
with such a status in the States is so underrated over here). That recognition
obviously is a fact nowadays in our country, or how else would you qualify a band
that can present their album on the roof of VTM, becomes 2nd in the album charts
right after the release, is being spinned ad nauseaum by Studio Brussels and did
more than their share of the honours as headliner of the first day of the rained-down
Werchter-festival. Recognizition has happend, os again : "Hats Off".
However : Three songs ... counting again ... yes only three songs on Mutant
Funk sustain the impression that Praga Khan is an exciting band. They are
called "Love", "The Power of the Flower" and
"Sayonara Greetings". The first for it's really deep lyrics (vb.
A rock guitar, a candy barr, CD Rom, Atom Bomb, Silverwear, Teddy bear, Rocking
chair, rasta hair, Superman, Peter Pan, U.F.O., Radio, Excorcists, Paper Clips,
Bubble gum and laser guns ... but all you need is love : some thought went
into this!), the second for its drive and nice psychedelic touch, and the third
for the memories of days-gone-by that it stirs (Bowie in a Sisters of Mercy song
in a Killing Joke sauce by an EBM band).
Everything else on Mutant Funk is trying very hard to be very pleasant audio-filling.
Muzak for the techno generation. Of course the beat doesn't halt, and there are
enough studio tricks in it to make a magician envious .. but a strong melody,
a grain of excitement or emotion, or just something that keeps you from dozing
away ... nowhere to be found.
So instead of "Hats Off", Praga Khan threw their hat at it (in dutch
the expression "throw your hat at it" means "try casually, without
giving it a lot of effort"). What saves the day for this release is that
it comes with a second CD that's chockfull of video's and remixes of the best
songs of "21st century skin", a record that does justify the current
status of Praga Khan in this here Low Countries.
And your opinion?
Did I get it all wrong, or was I spot-on ? Do you want to share your opinion about
this cd ? Send it in, and I'll put it up here !
This Album in the Press
- TEEK-magazine : "The "mutated funk" of Maurice Engelen
and Oliver Adams is, despite its psychedelic popinfluences, only half-and-half
convincing. The dancejunk that has Underworld on his cd-shelf won't get a thrill
out of this."
- Dirk Steenhaut in Metro (De Morgen) : "On Mutant Funk he mixes
techno with rock, combines electronische machines with guitars and winks at Bowie,
Fad Gadget and Depeche Mode. Stirring, but fortunately not overstrained".
- Stijn Lauwers in De
Standaard : "... a surprsing roadmovie-soundtrack with psychedelische
songs ... (from which) you could easily extract at lease six potential singles.
"Meditation" stands the comparison with the best of Underworld doorstaan
and the Sisters Of Mercy-pastiche "Sayonara greetings'' seems like it was
taken from David Bowie's Tin Machine."
- webzine 6Bears "Olivier
Adams... nous déverse ici 12 partitions qui mettront vos lecteurs de CD à dure
contribution. Entre un son proche des Cure sur "Sayonara Greetings", plus Pet
Shop Boys avec "Meditation" ou encore de l'acid house bien pulsée comme sur "The
Moon","Mutant funk " fera certainement les belles nuits de toutes les raves dignes
de ce nom aussi bien en Belgique que partout ailleurs."
- Out Soon (Café
Cool): "'Mutant Funk' is a stong successor to '21st Century Skin':
we get joyous electro-house such as 'The Power Of The Flower' or 'Turn Me On',
next to more subtle work such as 'Dreamcatcher'. Moments of elektronic self-reflection
next to well-aimed floorfillers."
- SvS in Rif-Raf : "Does it surprise you that we don't get excited
at all about "Mutant Funk", an album on which Praga Khan does what Underworld
did better on their far from brilliant last album. Is it pretentious to state
that their elektronic sounds sound outdated? Don't think so, or can't you expect
some evolution by a band?"
Did you see a good (or bad) review of this album ? Tell
me about it !
Where to buy this CD ?
You can order this CD from a number of locations (prices researched for the
limited edition double CD on August 16, 2000, but nothing guarantees they still
are the same when you read this).
The lowest price is in yellow, the highest in red. This price comparison doesn't
take things into account like deduction of shipping expenses when ordering more
than 1 cd, bonus points, differences in guarantees ... Shipping prices are those
for customers in Belgium.
Have you seen this record elsewhere on the net, do you own an online-CD-shop
with Belgian products in it, or if there's something wrong with my calculations
: let me know.
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