Previously ambient dub specialists, with their third record, Natural Selection, Sounds From the Ground moved into a style of downtempo electronica perfectly matched to the chillout crowd then in ascendance.
Although mildly opportunistic, the record shows Messrs.
Woolfson and Jones are quite adept at crafting earthy downbeat with plenty of warm keys and an aura of the sublime.
The opener, "Lean on Me" featuring Colein, is especially nice, a languorous piece of female-fronted electronic pop with jazzy keys and a lazy, shuffling beat.
A feature for drum'n'bass chatter General Levy is solid as well, though a few of the other vocalists on tap ruin the tracks they appear on, like the belabored Björk impressions of Nicola Hitchcock and the childish (literally) spoken-word piece by Aine on "Inner World" (granted, she's noticeably better on the sunny trip-pop of "New Day").
Like Zero 7 composing for a car commercial (though they probably already have), Natural Selection aims more for a crossover pop audience, but does hit its target precisely.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lean on MeLinda Duggan, Elliot Morgan Jones, Nick Woolfson | Sounds from the Ground, Colein | Play | 06:18 | 14 MB | 34 MB |
| 2 | Moving into a New SpaceNicola Hitchcock, Elliot Morgan Jones, Nick Woolfson | Sounds from the Ground, Nicola Hitchcock | Play | 06:10 | 14 MB | 31 MB |
| 3 | Inner WorldElliot Morgan Jones, Nick Woolfson | Sounds from the Ground | Play | 06:52 | 15 MB | 33 MB |
| 4 | The ShepherdElliot Morgan Jones, General Levy, Nick Woolfson | Sounds from the Ground, General Levy | Play | 06:14 | 14 MB | 34 MB |
| 5 | New DayElliot Morgan Jones, Nick Woolfson | Sounds from the Ground | Play | 05:10 | 11 MB | 28 MB |
| 6 | WhispersElliot Morgan Jones, Nick Woolfson | Sounds from the Ground | Play | 05:46 | 13 MB | 26 MB |
| 7 | I Forgive MeNicola Hitchcock, Elliot Morgan Jones, Nick Woolfson | Sounds from the Ground, Nicola Hitchcock | Play | 07:13 | 16 MB | 43 MB |
| 8 | Wishing TreeElliot Morgan Jones, Nick Woolfson | Sounds from the Ground | Play | 07:54 | 18 MB | 40 MB |
| 9 | PicturedElliot Morgan Jones, Nick Woolfson | Sounds from the Ground | Play | 02:45 | 6 MB | 11 MB |
| 10 | Gentle Healing | Sounds From The Ground | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 20 MB |
| 58 mins | 133 MB | |||||
| 58 mins | 305 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colein | Primary Artist |
| 2 | Linda Duggan | Composer, Vocals |
| 3 | General Levy | Composer, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 4 | Stephen Henderson | Photography |
| 5 | Nicola Hitchcock | Composer, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 6 | Elliot Morgan Jones | Audio Engineer, Composer, Member of Attributed Artist |
| 7 | Elliot Morgan-Jones | Producer |
| 8 | Sounds from the Ground | CD Art Adaptation, Primary Artist |
| 9 | Nick Woolfson | Audio Production, Composer, Member of Attributed Artist, Producer |
Sounds From The Ground
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |