Two Thousand and Six

"Two Thousand Six" has already turned out to be quite a year, and here, it's even more so turned out to be quite a CD! Downtempo production team Heights of Abrahams (Steve Cobby--1/2 of Fila Brazillia--and Sim Lister, along with breathy vocalist Jake Harries) have crafted a melange of dark, yet easily-accessible and chilled left-field tracks sure to please any crowd. Full of organic grooves that shimmer with sizzling, sax solos and haunting guitar riffs, Cobb and Lister manage to get inside your mind and soul. Their songs are warm, hypnotic and slow-burning providing the appropriate ambiance for any occassion, whether it's a social gathering, or love making. This one comes Highly Recommended.

After a long absence, Heights of Abraham returns and gets back to the heart of what made trip-hop such a popular genre: quiet, shuffling beats, soft, seductive vocals. "Intruder," the opening track, showcases this amply. But there's more to them than just that: the electro-funk of "Striplight" has a certain sleaziness to it. Little hints of jazz come filtering through on "Open Source," which sounds as if it could have come off of an earlier Heights of Abraham album -- a good thing, if case you were wondering -- and "As the Night Descended" has whispers of Fila Brazillia, circa _Mess._ There's a sultriness to "Blackout," a paean to failures of the power grid, and a dreaminess in "Western Edge." The exceedingly pleasant "Alt.Wakiki" sounds like the perfect antidote to a tough day anywhere. And "Everybody Knows" takes us back to the start. This album is a beautiful return to form for Heights of Abraham, proving that some things never go out of style.