Uninvited, Unmistakeable, Unmixed, Unbeaten (Unmixed - Freemasons)

Member Name: plipplop

Product:	Unmixed - Freemasons
Date:	26/04/09 (142 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funky, upbeat and uplifting

Disadvantages: Two uninspiring instrumental tracks

A secret society of manipulative businessmen, a pub in Brighton and a band that produces rather fantastic funky house music. That's the Freemasons for you. I don't know about you, but interest in the shady organisation and drinking house are of limited appeal to me, so if it's OK with you, I'll just stick to the very fine disc that is Unmixed.

Freemasons (Russell Small from Phats & Small and James Wiltshire otherwise known as Jimmy Gomez) have been big players on the club scene now since 2005. Unmixed is a sneaky little release that comprises a number of tracks that were previously released on an album called Shakedown that featured original Freemasons tracks alongside tracks by other artists that the producers had remixed. The commercial success of an Alanis Morissette track kind of triggered a real mainstream appeal to the group and led to the release of what was seen as a proper 'studio' album that consisted solely of Freemasons' own material. For fans of the producers, it was unquestionably cheeky. Unmixed comprises twelve tracks, of which ten had already appeared on Shakedown and was almost certain, therefore, to count as one of the biggest musical rip-offs for some time, were it only for the fact that hardly anybody bought Shakedown. As it is, therefore, and when considered on its own, Unmixed is an excellent disc.

The Freemasons' sound is generally very mainstream funky house. Most of the tracks on Unmixed feature either vocal or instrumental samples (or both) from well-known disco or funk tunes set to a funky, upbeat bass line. The group doesn't really have a promotional face. Most of the tracks feature different vocalists and, arguably, each song is reasonably different to another, such that if you heard one on the radio followed by another, you wouldn't instantly realise that they were by the same team. The group has seen a consistent, solid rise in popularity over recent years, initially triggered by one of 2005's biggest club anthems and slowly, progressively cultivating appeal with one release after another. At times now, it's hard not to experience Unmixed as something of a Greatest Hits collection. The album has now yielded seven promotional singles, four of which made the UK top 20, one of which made the top 10.

The debut single, Love on My Mind, will probably always be the album's strongest track. It's a clever combination of material that combines vocals from a 1979 disco track named This Time Baby and the Tina Turner hit When The Heartache is Over. It epitomises everything about the modern funky house genre, with it's dramatic orchestral samples, heartfelt vocals and a pounding beat and is still almost guaranteed to fill a dance floor. It's probably best described as the 'purest' track on the album, freed from the demands of having a conventional chorus separated by noticeable verses and is simple, but anthemic stuff. The album version is longer than the single release but (sadly) still doesn't feature the epic midway breakdown that seemed to set the clubs on fire.

The most surprising track on the album is also the opener. It's a controversial one too, as at the time of its release, it wasn't considered appropriate for a dance group to cover material from an artist like Alanis Morrissette. Well, apologies to the Morrissette fans but the Freemasons' version is unquestionably better than the original, evoking a strange haunting feeling, partly because of Bailey Tzuke slightly spooky vocals, but also because of the piano bass line that could have been ripped from a Hammer horror film. It's kind of what threw the group into the limelight and never loses its touch.

Freemasons are also generally credited with discovering a vocalist named Amanda Wilson, who has since gone on to gather something of a cult following on the funky house scene. Featured here on three tracks, Love on My Mind, I Feel Like and Watchin', it's on the latter where she really demonstrates supremacy. Watchin' is definitely the album's central anthem, pitching a simple vocal sample about cheating and lying against the unmistakable Freemasons beat to absolute effect. I Feel Like is appealing in its own way but lacks the bite of the previous track, but can't be ruled out as yet another single release given it's uplifting, radio-friendly appeal.

Other vocal tracks are strong. Siedah Garrett's turn on Rain Down Love is distinctive and sets it aside from the mainstream sound of Amanda Wilson and probably sounds the least like the rest of the album. Nothing But A Heartache's combination of seventies disco and brass jauntiness is inescapable but you'll either love or loathe Sylvia Mason Jones' vocals. When You Touch Me made only a small dent on the charts when released as a single but is one of the strongest tracks here. Katherine Ellis's vocals are, again, distinctive, but it's the most considered song vocally and more like a 'real' song than some of the other tracks, supported largely by Elli's enormous lungs. Love Don't Live Here Anymore is the most obviously recognisable track, a sort of wistful, pumping cover version of the Rose Royce song with a stripped down vocal from Judie Tzuke (Bailey's mother). It's a strong cover that doesn't totally devolve itself from the song's emotional roots but stays well away from being any sort of ballad.

There's some filler here too, but fortunately not much. Desperados and Pacific, both instrumental tracks, feel like an interlude between main events and it's hard to understand why they were included here to do anything other than pad the track listing. It's an ill-conceived action, given that the lack of vocals seems to interrupt the otherwise seamless flow of the album and they'd have been better off with ten strong vocals tracks.

These two tracks aside, Unmixed is a very strong album for fans of the genre or for anyone in need of something upbeat and radio-friendly. The variety of vocalists works well for me here, creating an album of differing styles and tones that are of consistent style and quality. The only real criticism could be that the band have lazily dwelt upon one disc now for the best part of two and a half years and in a music scene where change is constant, it's hard to imagine how they will update their sound. Indeed, Unmixed was and remains so strong that its legacy may indeed be that it becomes Freemasons' greatest hits. It's a good way to go out though - this is definitely a musical high.

Highly recommended.

Summary: THE funky house album of the 2000s