QABALLAH STEPPERS

IMAGINATRIX

  1/  Heidegger le Moderniste                    (JP,Ghari,Tabla Paul,JT)      5.20
  2/  Automation                                 (JP,Laswell,Ghari,Showard)    5.39
  3/  Fall of the Tower of Convention            (JP,Ghari)                    6.43
  4/  Then What?                                 (JP,Ghari)                    4.16
  5/  Silence                                    (JP,Ghari,Israel)             6.58
  6/  Is This the End?                           (Young Sand,Dub Gabe)         3.49
  7/  Last Exit                                  (Laswell,Showard,Ghari,JP)    4.26
  8/  Mount Arrarat                              (JP,Ghari,Tabla Paul)         4.03
  9/  Bass Failure                               (JP)                          7.53     
  10/ Where Did It All Go?                       (Fumio,JP,Tabla Paul,Ghari)   9.46

         Produced by Qaballah Steppers
         Mastered at Turtle Tone Studios by Michael Fossemkemper

Prof. Shehab (except 6,9): sounds; JP Sluys (except 6): bass, sounds; Tabla Paul (1,8,10: percussion; JT (1): horns; DXT (2,7): turntables; Bill Laswell (2,7): bass; Dr. Israel (5): sounds; Young Sand (6): words; Dub Gabriel (6): beats, sounds; Fumio (10): bass.

          2001 - Baraka Foundation (USA), BKA0022 (CD)

Note: Tracks 2 and 7 can be found on the Elixir release as "Automation Required" and "Voyage Orientis", respectively.

REVIEWS :

As the group's name indicates, Qaballah Steppers offer a sound that tends to draw most deeply on Middle Eastern and reggae influences. Imaginatrix does not depart from that tendency, nor from the generally dark and humorless ambience that is also typical of the band's albums. That darkness is often quite attractive, as it is here on the funky "Automation" (which features Bill Laswell on bass), the jungly hip-hop bounce of "Is This the End?," and the relatively (though by no means completely) lighthearted "Last Exit," which again features Laswell on bass as well as some surprisingly tasteful vocoder and the tastefully subtle turntable stylings of D.X.T.. But elsewhere the darkness is more tiresome and sometimes even just a bit oppressive. The aptly titled "Bass Failure" consists of not much more than a tedious synth beat punctuated by advancing and retreating swarms of keening string tones, while the even more aptly titled "Where Did It All Go?" is barely musical at all -- though it does lead to a very lovely hidden track. Recommended overall, despite its occasional flaws.

Rick Anderson courtesy of the All MUsic Guide website)