This album is the equivalent of a software upgrade, somewhat debugged and sporting a few new bonus features. The Album Formerly Known As is a completely remastered and reworked version of Carl Craig’s seminal 1995 record Landcruising. Beefed up by more advanced music production technology, many of the original work’s Tangerine Dream style guitars have been replaced with sparkly sounding synths or Detroit strings. It’s impressive to see the intricacy and interaction between voices from the original instrumentation being so evocative ten years on, (even with different timbres), and the new ‘plug-ins’; Sparkle. Technoambient (Max Dub) and Home Entertainment (Caya Dub), each provide a nice reference point between the earlier work versions and current production.
Collectors who cheer at the thought of finally getting the missing piece may be sorely disappointed, as the sound space has shifted considerably. It’s a different beast, and so the merit comes from seeing how new technology frees up the music’s fluency, enjoying the beautifully remastered sounds and musing over the shift in sentiment.
Bec Paton
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