Apt summation
Customer Rating: 
Lamb's fifth album since their self-titled debut of 1996 also turned out to be the last, with both founding members Andy Barlow and Louise Robinson (Louise Rhodes as was, having gone on to marry Crispin Robinson) embarking on solo projects. Perhaps wisely quitting while they were still ahead, Lamb brought a level of sophistication, lyrically, musically and emotionally, almost unique in the world of drum and bass, although this is a music that cannot be wholly ascribed to any one category. In this record they have achieved a summation of their art, be it in the deceptively pastoral passages of Clouds Clear, or the attack on your loudspeakers that is Sugar 5. At times exploring the darkest corners of human relationships, while at others celebrating the joys of living, Lamb can only make one look forward to what they come up with individually in the future
Pretty "Darkness"
Customer Rating: Smooth melodies and sophisticated trip-hop are the mark of Lamb. Their fourth release "Between Darkness and Wonder" is well-named: it's a combination of the melancholy and the pretty, wrapped up in catchy and/or tranquil pop. It's music to get wistful to.
A haunting opener bursts into shimmery "Darkness" and the poppy "Stronger." Then the album takes a different twist, turning down into melodious trip-hop ("Sugar 5," the bouncy "Sun"), and a stretch of soft, sweet music (the instrumental "Angelica," rainy ballad "Till the Clouds Clear," the sweet violin-led "Learn"). After the thumpy, gritty "Open Up," the album closes with the soft, slow, violin-tinged ballad "Hearts and Flowers."
Despite the more upbeat numbers, the tone of "Between Darkness and Wonder" is mellow and pensive. It's also a bit sad, but in an optimistic way. "And I'm beyond recognition/Gone to some small space in silent stillness/Yet something beats anew," Lou Robinson tells us in her sweet, sometimes velvety vocals. With all those songs about rebirth, skies turning from grey to blue and demons (personal demons?), it straddles between being melancholy and joyful.
Despite the electronica/trip-hop nature of Lamb, the edges of "Between Darkness and Wonder" are classical. "Hearts and Flowers" and "Learn" have violins, "Wonder" has rippling harp, and "Angelica" has piano. It gives a more timeless quality to the smooth, panoramic electronic music. Speaking of which: Andy Barlow does a fantastic job molding the beats, blips and sweeps of sound into some of the best trip-hop out there.
"Between Darkness and Wonder" is a beautiful album by a talented band. Deeply atmospheric and melodic, Lamb's newest release could be easily considered one of the best releases of 2004.
Dull Techno
Customer Rating: Confession number one: there's a ton of techno out there, and I'll never know half of it. Part of the problem is the genre itself; techno's maestros of sampling and hard drive spinning often prefer near-anonymity. Techno offers the usually behind-the-scenes guys and gals center stage, but these guys and gals prefer the shadows, kind of like the wizard from The Wizard of Oz. Moreover, techno is generally intended for quick consumption, not unlike the recreational concessions imbibed by club goers. Sure, recordings are made, shiny discs sometimes produced, digital rips scattered across file-sharing programs, but as anyone who's ever tried to hunt down an out-of-print book knows, just because someone spills her thoughts on paper (or on canvas, or onto a recorder) this doesn't mean those thoughts will always be around. Techno--and this is perhaps apt for a computer age filled with ever changing chat room monikers and on-the-move piracy servers--looms largely transient and untraceable.
Not surprisingly, some guys and gals have stepped forward: Moby, Air, DJ Shadow, Tricky, Portishead, Lamb. If I'm generalizing a bit too much, I apologize, but how else can I steer one through the disorder? Trip-hop (trance + hip hop), a downbeat, sometimes jazzy, sometimes soulful, sometimes spacey, and sometimes psychedelic lo-fi sound, enjoyed huge success in the early to mid-90's. Trip-hop still exists, but has merged with other rave sounds: jungle, bass n' drum, ambient, breakbeat, garage, hardstep, etc. The names aren't important to remember, and today's groups carrying on the torch should probably be categorized as post-trip-hop. Still, for the purposes of this review, the universal "trip-hop" works just fine.
This brings us back to Lamb, their fourth release Between Darkness and Wonder, and my confession number two: I like pop music; I like hooks, great beats, and anything else that's sonically interesting (I throw in this last item as a way to cover artists like Brian Eno or Captain Beefheart, although these two usually know a hook and a great beat, too). Lamb presents semi-memorable melodies, yet the hooks aren't really there, or they might be, but they're so limp that they're insubstantial. Tech whiz Andy Barlow knows his way around a sampler--and give him credit for creating his own beats instead of borrowing--but too often his soundscapes favor balladic backdrops, such as lush strings. Louise Rhodes, Lamb's chanteuse, favors lyrics about darkness, light, heaven, dawn, and the earth. Rhodes tries to give her lyrics life by over-enunciating, but make no mistake: Rhodes is a new bohemian in techie clothing. Sample lyric: "You are the sun / It's where you're from / And where I'm going to / The light you shine / Can always change / My grey skies into blue." She also seems unsure whether to breathily deliver her lines (a la Nico) or warble and belt out her words like Dolores O'Riordan. This doesn't mean that Between Darkness and Wonder is terrible. The CD is confident and comfortable, but I'll never play it again.
Standout tracks: "Sugar 5"
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