Subliminal Sandwich
Subliminal Sandwich is a 1996 double album released by Meat Beat Manifesto on Interscope Records. It features a stronger dub and reggae influence than on any other Meat Beat Manifesto album. The first disc is the group's standard fare, a highly energetic and densely packed collection of songs that melds a variety of genres and makes heavy use of sampling. The second disc is far more experimental in nature, composed of lengthier pieces that incorporate more ambient textures and drones and fewer samples or defined song structures.
Subliminal Sandwich | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 4 June 1996 | |||
Recorded | 1993–1996 in San Francisco, London and Chicago | |||
Genre | Electronica, trip hop,[1] big beat, ambient, electro-industrial, experimental | |||
Length | 68:50 (disc 1) 69:03 (disc 2) | |||
Label | Nothing/Interscope | |||
Producer | Jack Dangers | |||
Meat Beat Manifesto chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
NME | 8/10[3] |
Rolling Stone | [4] |
Alternative Press | [5] |
Subliminal Sandwich was composed during Meat Beat Manifesto's 1993 tour supporting the Satyricon album and would have been released in 1994 or 1995 if not for legal tangles with the band's Belgian label Play It Again Sam.[6] Two singles were released from the album, a version of World Domination Enterprises' "Asbestos Lead Asbestos" and "Transmission".
In 2015, Fact Magazine ranked the album at number 47 in its list of "The 50 Best Trip-Hop Albums of All Time," saying "it remains an interesting offering, drawing links between trip-hop, dub, industrial and ambient with a touch of psychedelia."[1]
The song "She's Unreal" was featured on the soundtrack of the 1999 film The Blair Witch Project, on a "mix tape" entitled Josh's Blair Witch Mix.
Track listing
All songs written by Jack Dangers (unless otherwise noted).
Disc one
- "Sound Innovation" – 2:18
- "Nuclear Bomb" – 6:12
- "Long Periods of Time" – 4:33
- "1979" – 5:25
- "Future Worlds" – 4:56
- "What's Your Name?" – 2:47
- "She's Unreal" – 4:10
- "Asbestos Lead Asbestos" (Keith Dobson) – 6:22
- "Mass Producing Hate" – 3:01
- "Radio Mellotron" – 1:07
- "Assassinator" – 5:22
- "Phone Calls from the Dead" – 3:13
- "Lucid Dream" – 2:09
- "Addiction" – 4:07
- "No Purpose No Design" – 2:18
- "Cancer" – 4:34
- "Transmission" – 4:09
- "We Done" – 2:07
Disc two
- "Set Your Receivers" – 0:23
- "Mad Bomber/The Woods" – 10:16
- "The Utterer" – 6:51
- "United Nations (E.T.C.)" – 4:05
- "Stereophrenic" – 13:03
- "Teargas" – 0:38
- "Plexus" – 3:29
- "Electric People" – 14:03
- "Tweekland" – 7:55
- "Simulacra" – 8:20
Personnel
- Jack Dangers – voice, bass, waterphone, bass clarinet, mellotron, theremin, synthesizers, samples, turntables and dishes
Disc 1 collaborators
- Joe Gore – guitar (tracks 5, 6, 7, 14)
- Hell Louise – voice (tracks 6, 17)
- Mike Powell – theremin, b. voice (tracks 3, 9)
- Jonny Stevens – guitar (track 8)
Disc 2 collaborators
- Arjan Macnamara – Jupiter 8 (track 10)
- Mark Pistel – Moog, OB 8, e. bow, theremin (tracks 3, 8, 9)
- Mike Powell – theremin (track 5, 8)
- Philip Steir – Octapad (track 2)
- Jonny Stevens – 100 M system, OBM-X (tracks 3, 5)
- Ben Stokes – percussion (track 3)
- Lee Walker – Jupiter 8, Jupiter 4 (tracks 4, 7)
- John Wilson – feedback generator (track 3)
References
- Twells, John; Fintoni, Laurent (30 July 2015). "The 50 best trip-hop albums of all time". FACT Mag. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
- Subliminal Sandwich at AllMusic
- NME (Magazine) (6/8/96, p.51) – 8 (out of 10) – "...Tricky-esque trip-hop, blissed out atmospherics, industrial hip-hop beats....jarring, infectious....the perfect party tape for the oncoming apocalypse..."
- Rolling Stone (10/3/96, p.74) – 3-1/2 Stars – Good/Excellent – "...What at first seems difficult to digest becomes more intriguing and intimidating with time—like an Escher drawing. The more you listen, the more you hear....The second disc is the pop-art coup de grace...ultraedited ambient excursions that veer well into get-out-the-butterfly-nets sonic territory..."
- Alternative Press (8/96, p.80) – 4 (out of 5) – "...seduces with more elastic funk grooves, dubbier bass lines and more exotic embellishments (theremin, Mellotron, waterphone, bass clarinet, e bow, etc.)....the dub funk that predominates will more likely chill your marrow than ignite a disco inferno..."
- "MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO :: It's all about the rhythm". Igloo Magazine. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 2010-02-07.