Master View
Product ID: 59727835
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AV. Sounds like something you stick in a drip. Makes you think of government funded outreach events or the foyer of a trendy gallery. Somebody had to take this audiovisual thing out of the art house and into the mad house. And by heaven, it had to be Hexstatic. AVIN IT!! Renowned duo Hexstatic have toured every dusty corner of planet earth presenting ever more demented assualts on the limits of good AV taste. They have done horror specials for Halloween, they have done comedy specials for, erm, the Big Chill. They have made groups of saucer eyed ravers don 3D specs and flinch from their mighty rhythms. They have done rather marvellous bootlegs that have pictures, too. Theyve done it all, basically. Everywhere. So when they began work on their second album, they decided that there was no way on earth ("No way!" they cried) that the record wouldnt also be issued as a plush dvd of, well, crazy AV shit, brother. So they gathered themselves and a few firm friends and created "Master View" (named for those seventies sort of slide show thingies ah, look at the cover whydoncha?). And it delivers just the kind of thrills n spills youd hope for: vintage video game porn for the over thirties, cartoon ninjas killing dogs, sixties future psych, giant teddy bears, birds that sing along to the tune, bloco shenanigans, rapper Juice Aleem spitting out the Beatles, dancing gadget catalogues, pretty coloured circles, you bloody name it. And then it does it all again in 3D! And that, my friend, is the shit. And in addition, the music is every bit the equal of its pictured parts (as is evidenced by listening to it on the simultaneously-released cd instead). A loose mash up of classic electro, trademarked Ninja funk, pilferings from the pairs global outreach programme, sneaky samples and enough good humour to leave you sweetly oblivious when yer mam catches you dancing round the living room in just your pants and some 3D specs. Oh. No. That was just me. Master View is Hexstatic 's latest offering. As the title suggests, this is about sight as well as sound videos to all the tracks are included on a DVD. What's more, the DVD and the audio CD come in the same package, so you don't have to fork out for both formats. For this alone, Ninja Tune should be applauded. However, there's more to recommend this than mere value for money. Musically, Master View is 11 tracks of the kind of quality cut-and-paste, largely instrumental hip-hop you'd expect from Hexstatic (and, indeed, most Ninja Tune artists). It's unlikely to win any new converts, but if that's your bag, the music's top notch. But stick the DVD on and you're in for a real treat. A mixture of computer animations and cut-and-paste videos awaits you, some of which can be viewed in 3D with the glasses supplied and all of which are great, highlights including the retro video-game montage of "Extra Life", the singing parrots on "Perfect Bird" and the martial-arts fighters flying out of the screen at you in "Salvador". Different, and a real success. --Marc Bloomfield "A display of musical imagination which staggers with or without the aid of complimentary glasses." -- Q "Hexstatic flex their audio-visual mash-up muscles impressively.. brilliant." -- IDJ "Inventive beats, breaks and arcade game funk complimented by wild videos. This innovative album pushes things forward sonically and visually." -- DJ, "One of the most ambitious album projects of recent times." -- Knowledge "Trumpeting oodles of looney leftfield tomfoolery in the best Ninja tradition Inspired." -- The List Review: Five Stars - Perfect Review: Good Sound Quality, A musical throwback capable of punching and shocking - This is a good quality recording yet seems and feels old. It is almost “boom and bleep” but it was recorded in 2004. It feels like the last musical dinosaur from the early age of techno. I find this recording intriguing as I am unsure what it is meant to be? The sound track to a 1950’s sc-fi B B-movie perhaps? It seems and feels very innocent and unsophisticated yet there are shades and hints of drum and bass. It sounds like a musical missing link. Worth getting if you are interested in the evolution of modern music. I have not set out to write reviews of the music content as “beauty is in the ears of the listener”. These reviews are about the quality (or not) of the recorded sound. To read about how the reviews are done please see my profile. • Clarity – Very clear, sharp with no muddiness • Channel separation – Very good • Channel balance – Very good, dynamic channel mix, booms and alternates • Sound Stage – Deep, broad and wide. Very detailed • Distortion – Non Audible • Compression – Non Audible • Atmosphere – Very good but not in a light, airy, fairy way. Slightly brooding and menacing. Punches and beats • Bass – low frequencies – Very deep and rich, bass guitars and drums are excellent. Very clear and detailed, driving, punching, insistent • Treble – high frequencies – Crystal clear, detail is clearly audible • Vocals – Detailed, good As a general rule of thumb recordings from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s are nearly always better on the original vinyl. Remasters often fail to please as it’s just not possible to make a silk purse from a sows ear, i.e. the original recording lacks the necessary detail to be processed digitally and show an audible improvement. Indeed such processing can make the sound worse. Modern recordings which have been processed digitally from start to finish can be as good as vinyl. CD’s are often unfairly criticised for being poor quality. This is not the case, it is the original recording or the process which is to blame. Modern “remasters” can both enhance and degrade a recording. The statement GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) is the limiting factor. Ignore this at your cost.
J**C
Five Stars
Perfect
I**O
Good Sound Quality, A musical throwback capable of punching and shocking
This is a good quality recording yet seems and feels old. It is almost “boom and bleep” but it was recorded in 2004. It feels like the last musical dinosaur from the early age of techno. I find this recording intriguing as I am unsure what it is meant to be? The sound track to a 1950’s sc-fi B B-movie perhaps? It seems and feels very innocent and unsophisticated yet there are shades and hints of drum and bass. It sounds like a musical missing link. Worth getting if you are interested in the evolution of modern music. I have not set out to write reviews of the music content as “beauty is in the ears of the listener”. These reviews are about the quality (or not) of the recorded sound. To read about how the reviews are done please see my profile. • Clarity – Very clear, sharp with no muddiness • Channel separation – Very good • Channel balance – Very good, dynamic channel mix, booms and alternates • Sound Stage – Deep, broad and wide. Very detailed • Distortion – Non Audible • Compression – Non Audible • Atmosphere – Very good but not in a light, airy, fairy way. Slightly brooding and menacing. Punches and beats • Bass – low frequencies – Very deep and rich, bass guitars and drums are excellent. Very clear and detailed, driving, punching, insistent • Treble – high frequencies – Crystal clear, detail is clearly audible • Vocals – Detailed, good As a general rule of thumb recordings from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s are nearly always better on the original vinyl. Remasters often fail to please as it’s just not possible to make a silk purse from a sows ear, i.e. the original recording lacks the necessary detail to be processed digitally and show an audible improvement. Indeed such processing can make the sound worse. Modern recordings which have been processed digitally from start to finish can be as good as vinyl. CD’s are often unfairly criticised for being poor quality. This is not the case, it is the original recording or the process which is to blame. Modern “remasters” can both enhance and degrade a recording. The statement GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) is the limiting factor. Ignore this at your cost.
H**T
Top of the Ninjas
The 1 star review here is so wide of the mark it's nuts. One thing this isn't is bland whatever other criticisms you can level at it. It's in fact a top example of breakbeat tunage mixed with a couple of dowmptempo songs. I have around 70 Ninja Tune albums and this is definitely among the best 5. It's also a definite improvement on Rewind and way better than Robots. If the likes of Fatboy Slim's first two albums, early Chemical Bros etc appeal to you I reckon you might like this. If not, you probably won't.
S**Y
Superb follow-up
Perhaps not as quirky as Rewind, but every bit as good in my view. There is still lots of innovation here, although it feels better constructed somehow. It's pretty pointless trying to come up with a useful description of the music - you just have to listen to it, and you either get it or you don't. Salvador is my favourite track, but the whole album is huge fun and immensely enjoyable. The only fly in the ointment for me is Distorted Minds - perhaps because it is the only track with "proper" lyrics, and it just doesn't quite gel with the rest of the album. My kids love Chase Me and Perfect Bird, and will spend hours watching the accompanying DVD if I let them. That's one of the great things about the Rewind and Masterview albums - they appeal to pretty much anyone with even a vague interest in music, regardless of age. I'm often disappointed with second albums, but definitely not this time.
C**E
Now THIS is how it's done! Bravo!
An impulse buy that paid off! I've bought Hexstatic releases before, but I was drawn to this CD for it's retro artwork and bonus DVD as much as anything. Sometimes these purchases are later regretted - but definitely not this time. The album surpasses their previous works, it's not at all patchy and not the sort of disc you end up with only one or two favourites, forever skipping the 'filler' in between. But enough about the album (!) the real knockout punch is the 'free' DVD (& 3D glasses!) which has some wonderful videos to the album tracks. They all carry the same retro-sensibility of the bands cover art, and at least two ("Extra Life" & "Chase me")will delight fans of old arcade and computer games. The video for "Toys are us" is another gem, it's like an old Argos christmas catalogue has come to life. Everyone I've showed the DVD to loved it, irrespective of their musical tastes. The menus, and the contents are mesmerising and would have been worth the asking price alone. From a videogames fan's point of view, this is the best thing since the "Little Computer People" video of 2001. A real gem, sonically and visually. Made me smile.
"**"
Mesmerising
It has been a long wait since Rewind, technology has moved on a lot since and thankfully we now have a DVD of videos instead of a CR-ROM. Why have I made such a big deal about this? Quite simply because Hexstatic are very much a compelete audio-visual experience. Once you've watched the DVD, you'll almost feel cheated out of half of the experience when you just listen to the CD. So the DVD is good, not just a bonus but an integral part of the package. The 3D glasses that come with it aren't so hot and gave me a bit of a headache to be honnest, but there are 2D videos of all the tracks so you can watch it in a group without all having to look silly. On to the music. Well despite the 3D glasses I'm prepared to say that this album isn't as gimmicky as Rewind. I mean that in the sense that although their music is still littered with novelty samples, it's now not so much the main focus of the music. The result is that things seem a little less chaotic and even a little more chilled out at times on such tracks as the remix of Guitar Vader's Perfect Bird and the closing track, Pulse. In all, losing the more raw cut'n'paste usage of sampling, Hexstatic have come up with something that sounds more rounded and complete and once again quite original. While it's not as funky as their Solid Steel set or their first album, I still find myself nodding contently to the beats on each listen. It still has a geeky stance on computers and electronics, but that's what Hexstatic are all about. Top stuff!
"**"
If only they could rewind to past form
As a fan of their earlier album, Rewind, and their work with Coldcut, I was disappointed with this new offering. The earlier, endearing geekiness now seems laboured and affected, the tunes blander and more like simple ear-candy. Most of the videos were a let-down too. You almost feel they've done everything they were ever really about and have no particularly fresh ideas to move on with, but having seen them live a couple of times recently I know this is not the case. So what's happened? It's been a very long wait for very little.
T**N
Class Act, Class tracks
Been a fan of Hexstatic since Rewind, and have to say they are my favourite live act. They are an audiovisual band...they give 3D glasses so you can enjoy the album the way it should be enjoyed...not as a gimmick. If you like laid back beats and cool sounds and haven't seen them yet, then buy the album, load the DVD player, sit back with your 3D glasses, and enjoy a real treat!
T**D
ご注意！私と同じ思いをしない為に．．．
Hexの作品を買う方はおそらくDVDが目当てでしょう。 商品付属のDVD、パッケージにはPAL/REGION-ALLと 表記されていますが、実際はPAL/REGION-1です。 PCに挿入すると「このディスクはREGION-1に設定されています。」 と表示され、再生不可。国内用DVD再生機でも同様です。 リージョンフリー機でも、映像方式がPALなので再生出来ませんよ。 日本の映像方式はNTCSです。マルチシステムがあれば再生可能ですが。 悪い事はいいません。日本国内版を買いましょう。
R**.
Four Stars
love it
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