Category: Music → Ben Neill - Goldbug (1998)

Tracklist:
1. Tunnel Vision (6:04)
2. Dark Gift (5:25)
3. Route Me Out (4:58)
4. Freezer Burn (4:51)
5. Lookinglast (6:38)
6. Shirt Waste (3:53)
7. Goldbug (4:59)
8. It's Only Money (4:09)
9. Syntonic (4:43)
10. Blue Maroon (6:32)
11. Tunnel Vision (Spring Heel Jack Holland Tunnel Mix) (8:56)
12. Tunnel Vision (X-Ecutioners Mix) (5:28)
13. Tunnel Vision (Dj Krust Levity Mix) (7:07)

Personnel:
Jane Scarpantoni - cello
DJ Spooky - turntables
Page Hamilton - vocals, guitar
Kelli Sae - vocals
Ben Neill - trumpet, programming, electronics
The best music is often the hardest to classify, and so it is with Ben Neill's latest CD, Goldbug. It might be acid jazz, or ambient, or new age, or techno--often, it's two or three at once. But then, innovation is Neill's forte; that trumpet you hear on Goldbug is an instrument of his own invention that combines acoustic and electronic elements and effectively turns Neill into a one-man band. From the playfulness of "Freezer Burn" to the low-key ambience of "Syntonic," this is all highly enjoyable, if unclassifiable, stuff; "Dark Gift" combines a straight-ahead beat with a jazzy trumpet line, and "Shirt Waste" wouldn't sound out of place on the soundtrack to the underground animated TV series Reboot. Call it what you like--just don't miss it. - Genevieve Williams