I dont usually listen to this kinda music
Well i was more into Roots Manuva then the jazz type, but when it came up with Cinematic Orchestra, i thought it was some kind of Live recording. But it must the most awesome song i have ever heard. It is truely mezmerizing.....i would never listen to this kinda music..but All Things To All Men just blew me into space.

organic listless effortless lilt
the fatness of sound and instrumentation hits you up in the back of the head and stays there...remarkable peice of work. a feeling of real cool, uber calm and remorseless mellow tention!

in 'all things to all men' i could think of no better guest than roots manuva, a true wordsmith of our time, serves another gorgeous pot full of clever lyric, melodic chorus and all of this executed with expert timing.

hats off, with no exception.

umaru 35ydbeatexperiment www35yd.com

What would the BEEB do without this album?
If you've ever wondered where the BBC sound mixer gets all the laid back link music -It's this album or Zero7 'when it falls'.
Despite getting annoyed with the BBC for being less than imaginative, this recording is brilliant. It is never far from my car and chills me well on the way to work. It is always a pleasure to listen to. I am waiting patiently for the next masterclass in supreme chill.

Absolution of sound...
There is something very beautiful about this album.
Its jazz fueled tracks glide of the contemplative deep sounds of its neighbour.
The natural synergy of symplism fused with a complexity of performance and instrumentaion bodes for a very rewarding experience.
I think you'll like it.

Don't mention Chill-out
I'm not going to do the obvious and put this album in the much lamented 'chill-out' box just because the songs are slower than 120bpm (not all of them are, 'Flite' is about 140bpm and is in 7/8 time!), but if you like Zero 7 then you will love this album. Gilles Peterson puts it like this "Don't say 'chill out' or 'hardcore' but think both".

The Cinematic Orchestra share a common laid-back, jazzy, left field approach to music with Zero 7, but it is there that the similarity ends. The Cinematic's are clearly more influenced by Hip-Hop, with heavy, plodding beats and scratching running alongside clarinets, organs and harps. They even get the UK Hip-Hop legend Roots Manuva to provide vocals on 'All Things to All Men'.

There is a warmth and roundness to the sound of this album that makes you feel like you are wrapped up in a blanket on a winter day. The tracks are what I would describe as epic. This isn't because they're long (though the longest track stands at over 11 minutes); it means that they are big on sound, like Zero 7's 'End Theme'. Each track builds through a complex layering of instruments that mean you are still discovering new things on the 100th listen.

This sound is very well summed up by the name of the band as is sounds very cinematic. This doesn't mean that it sounds like the soundtrack to a film, but rather that it is to mainstream music what well made cinema is to television.

As the Orchestra part of their name suggests, the sound is made up, quite heavily, from traditional instruments ranging from the double bass and harp to the clarinet and saxophone. However, alongside this are cleverly manipulated injections of electronic sound that help to fill out the sound and separate it from traditional jazz, but without feeling obtrusive.

In short, this is an album of true music that is both aurally and emotionally moving. Whether you want some relaxing background music, or the musical equivalent of a good book that you can really get into and think about every word, this is the album for you. One of my all-time favourites.