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Album Details

• Artist: Thunderball
• Album: Cinescope
• Label: ESL Music
• Year of Release: 2006
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: mschmitt on 2006-11-05

Cinescope explodes as the third released from Washington DC residents Thunderball. The trio – with a little help from their friends – cranks out a dozen tracks that mix and blend Afro, Latin, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern influences. Embossed with sitar and techno beats, Cinescope finds Thunderball collaborating with the likes of Mustafa Akbar to form "Return of the Panther," an energetic beat-box of a song that combines foreign elements with jazz and Afro influences. The instrumental "The Mysterious Mr. Sandobar" goes one step further to combine jazz and electronic beats, throwing in saxophones and other big band instruments into the mix along with the pulsing rhythms. Akbar returns for "Elevated States," an introspective smoking-room hit with more brass than you could shake a stick at. "Get Up with the Get Down" is a electrifyingly James Brown version of jazz-and-oriental themes for a modern ‘60s experience…if that makes sense. Who cares if it does? It’s still stuffed full of funk and groove and doesn’t stop moving until the very end. A bit of drum & bass, a bit of jazz, a bit of foreign influences (like Afro and Mediterranean), a foundation of techno beats, and a whole load of groovy, well-written songs makes Cinescope Thunderball’s most impressive work to date. Pick this one up for a genre-blending soul-inspirin’ good time.

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