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3 1/2Paced irrationally, this amazing start of fluidly rendered intelligent dancescapes could have gone down as a tried and true classic, though by the end feels overlong and worn out from half-cooked experimenters consuming the latter half of this 70 minute disc.
The cymbal crashes sound like a dive into a perfect blue sea. The appeal lies in the vibrant string sections. It has a timeless quality, and it blends well when life can seem kind of hectic, or chaotic. Do not pass this song by, it is phenomenal. This track is somewhat of a lullaby. I heard the rest of this album, it did not really stay with me.
This release gets 5 stars from me because the track I am focusing on has a serious lasting quality for me.Hasty boom alert was a very pleasant surprise to me, I dont play anything but this track. the drumwork literally makes you think its immersed in water. I've found that U-ziq has a few stellar tracks, and the rest just dont impress upon you. I and a close friend revere this song, nothing short of religiously. heavenly. I can think of one track on every release he has that I would definitely lodge in my top 50.
I guess, in short.
Makes a perfect pair with Aphex Twin's "Richard D James" cd. Really is one of the best electronic albums of the 1990's. There's also a collection of "offcuts" called "Brace Yourself" which is interesting but nowhere near as good as "Lunatic Harness"If you're new to u-ziq start with this album. You can listen to this from start to finish as many times as you like and never tire of itAs the years go by "Brace Yourself Jason" becomes funkier, "Midwinter Log" more melodic, "Catkin And Teasel" more demented and the title track "Lunatic Harness" even funnier. A rare, warm, wickedly funny and FRIENDLY drill n bass album.
This track is a masterpiece and the best on the album- 'lunatic harness' - just anarchically crazy, then jaunty and bubbly - the humour works better here than elsewhere- 'approaching menace' - aptly named - more anarchy here- 'secret stair pt1' - appealing synth tune rudely interrupted by Squarepusher-like frenetic beats, wins out yet again - alluring- 'wannabe' - preposterous- 'catkin and teasel' - good fun, jittery and bleepy, with always a lot going onSome tracks, like 'Mushroom Compost' and 'Blainville' are pretty forgettable. The sound-bites of this album sounded very promising. Overall it's a worthy album, but I'd look elsewhere for more consistent electronica brilliance - Autechre, Spooky, Oval, Murcof, Zen Paradox, Boards of Canada to name a few. There is also some noticable distortion on a couple of tracks that I am not convinced was fully intended (like a number of Warp CDs). While I wasn't too disappointed, I did expect it to have more of an impact.Unfortunately, for me, the outcome for me was similar to listening to most of Richard D James' albums - some of it is just too clever for me. The best tracks:- 'hasty boom alert' - radiant theme, unable to be deconstructed by jerky interjecting beats, is alluring and memorable.
Some of the most beautiful rhythms and composed beats I've ever heard when this album came out. Consider what was happening in 97. This album was amazing when it came out and I still would put its creativity up against majority of the laptop generation of kids to this day.This album is about knowing rhythm.
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