Eat Static – Abduction

"Prepare your spirit" was a good first effort, but that was like a compilation of all their influences up to that point, some italo-piano here and a smattering of hardcore there. "Abduction" is a much more coherent effort showcasing their own sound and vision.

Overall, quite probably Eat Static's best album. Though I've heard some retro heads praise the primordial rawness of the recently re-released "Prepare your spirit", my heart and ears stick to "Abduction". You get it all on this one: simple and soothing melodies, acid leads which never wander too far off into cerebral territory, SF and alienesque sampes, all painted over with a colorful blend of early pre goa trance and techno. The general approach to the music is not the one of an insatiable armament, but they still explore a wide range of electronic music territory, via very smart arrangements - be it a straight forward 4x4 kick, broken beats or percussion patterns you just cannot categorize. From more downbeat atmospheres to pure old school party classics, Eat Static could please 'em all. It may not be as three dimensional as for example "Science of the gods" or as ecclectic as "In the nude!", but all the more focused and unified. Whereas I find most of their other albums to be hit and miss material, "Abduction" has barely any weak points. The flow is impeccable, a true album experience, something I missed later on in their careers, as they always went on to present and try out so many things over the course of one album, that it often sounded too random and like a collection of tracks from all over the place. Trust me on this one though, even the not so great Eat Static fan like myself had his tongue rolled down to the ground after hearing this!
My favorite tracks are Prana, Gulf Breeze, Forgotten Rites and Abduction. With maybe half a dozen other tunes, those four show the pinnacle of Eat Static's tongue in cheek creativity.
If you like this, you might want to try out Taiyo's "Tranzen EP", Juno Reactor's "Transmissions" debut album, the early compilations on Dragonfly Records , but why stop there? Go on and dig out many of the early nineties classics which weren't afraid to cross the back then not so rigid genre boundries: artists such as FUSE, Future Sound Of London, Blue Planet Corporation, Shaolin Wooden Men and so forth.