London Elektricity - Building Better Worlds (2019)

We've made it to the final album I'll be reviewing which is the most recent album from London Elektricity. 

It came out just months before covid happened. One thing which came out of covid was the 90s rave podcast on YouTube which was started because of lockdown. Over time they decided to drop the 90s part of it and make it a podcast for all things rave. Perhaps the interview that was most evident of this was the one with London Elektricity.

Whilst he had been around in the 90s, his heyday was very much the 21st century and it could be argued that Hospital Records is still bigger than ever. As a result do you make a record for grumpy old men like me who will most likely consider it not as good as the older stuff or do you make a record for the kids who are all about now?

London Elektricity has picked the latter and as a result I don't think much of the album. Just looking at how many of the tracks have vocalists is a red flag. OK I've never heard of any of them so it's probably not just using names to sell records. It does however very much sound like an album meant to sell to the masses rather than the purists. Nothing wrong with that of course, how many other 60 somethings are still making a lucrative career from making drum & bass?

It just isn't my cup of tea. A sad way to end this series given how many of these newer albums I liked but there were bound to be some albums I wouldn't like and the last one happened to be one of those.

London Elektricity - Are We There Yet? (2015)

London Elektricity is the alias of Tony Colman. I picked the "Billion Dollar Gravy" album as one of my favourites. He was the label manager for Hospital Records, the same label High Contrast was signed to. The liquid funk form of drum & bass from that label was of the variety that was more listen at home friendly that your regular drum & bass, something that was needed around the turn of the century.

When the first London Elektricity album came out in 1999 Tony Colman was 38, so for years at the back of my mind I thought there's still time yet for me to break through in music. That time has long since passed.

Drum & Bass is arguably the only dance music genre from the 90s that has grown to be much bigger in the 21st century. At the big raves in the 90s drum & bass would be one room at best. In 2014 I went to Hospitality which sold out Brixton Academy where not only was every room doing drum & bass, it was specifically Hospital Records.

To tell the the truth I felt I was a bit old to be going to these nights by this point. London Elektricity may have been in his 50s but most of the attendees were in their 20s I would guess. 

What we have then is a genre going from strength to strength thanks in part to the youngsters getting into it. Basically music for the masses and music for the kids which generally isn't music for me.

This becomes apparent with this album. Making the music accessible is taken to another level, more vocals and the beats get more watered down.

I can totally understand though, do you make something a retiring raver like me would like knowing I'm most likely to prefer the older stuff or do you make something for the new generation of kids coming to your raves.

A poor album then and I've still got to listen to a newer on of his.