Quantic - An Announcement to Answer
(CD/LP) Tru Thoughts TRUCD100/TRULP100, 2006-07-21

Review :
The same exact thing happened to me with all Quantic or Quantic Soul Orchestra albums: disappointment on the first listen. For the first one, "The 5th Exotic", in 2001, I was expecting something close to Mr Scruff quirkyness, and stumbled on an incredible collection of mid-tempo rockers. I must admit I became an addict from that point on. The next year saw the release of "Apricot Morning", which I thought at the time would be some beats-for-the-dancefloor action mostly, and got some UK new roots grooves instead (jazz, hip hop, afro, funk, soul, breakbeats...). A delightful surprise again.
In 2003 was released the first Quantic Soul Orchestra album, "Stampede", an all-live thing, playing heavy funk, soul, jazz and afro-beat! The move wasn't expected AT ALL... And what a shock of a monster album! Two months later, a new album was already out, "Tales From Beyond The Groove", this time a white-soul collaboration with Russell Porter under the name The Limp Twins. First listen was, as usual, kinda "what the fuck is that!!??"... Then the record strated growing on me, so much that I keep on coming back to it regularly, even three years after its initial release.
Without losing the tempo, Quantic then released (in 2004) his third album under his own name, "Mishaps Happening", electrifying global grooves (latin, afro, funk) like nobody had before, setting an uptempo pace for the worldwide scene. The rule of "with each new year a new album" never stopped and in 2005 the second QSO album, "Pushin' On", was issued but afrofunk wasn't the thing to expect. The album instead marked the beginning of a new era for the now famous "new funk" scene. Soul vocalist Alice Russell became a star from that day on. What would be next in 2006?
Quantic was now one of the big names in the vast music underground. A collection of rare tracks and remixes was released in February 2006 on double CD ("One Off's Remixes and B Sides") to satisfy an ever-growing demand for Will Holland's magic production touch.The Quantic and Mr Scruff funky collaboration "Giraffe Walk" was particularly inspiring, but it was just another mislead... When "An Announcement To Answer", Quantic's 8th album arrived in my mailbox, I couldn't wait to listen to it. As we were saying in Paris DJs headquarters, "the new Quantic album is the most awaited record of the year so let's play it right now!!". And... what the hell!!??? Laptop producing, hip hop vocals, no recognizable style but a mixture of many, changing from track to track as if eclectism was the new thing... I had to differ my "judgment" for another day, again.
Now it's been two months, and as with the previous Quantic releases, the album is nothing less than a grower. Downtempo drenched in oriental harmonies, electronized ethio-jazz, hip hop 'n' breaks with eastern stylings, jazz breakbeats, Ghanean afro soul, broken beats with violins, Puerto-Rican latin-jazz for the dancefloor, American hip hop laced with Nigerian funk, and an unbelievable mixture of all this in the last track, "Tell It Like You Mean It", with bits of electro synths thrown in for the pleasure of all... Yes, he did it again! When we thought Quantic was the king of the "new funk" scene, he's already gone conquering the world. Shall we say "genius?". (Djouls)

Tracklisting :
01. Absence Heard, Presence Felt (3.07)
02. An Announcement to Answer (4.53)
03. Blow Your Horn feat. Ohmega Watts (4.21)
04. Bomb In a Trumpet Factory (2.44) | MP3
05. Politik Society feat. Noelle Scaggs (4.40)
06. Meet Me at the Pomegranate Tree (2.50)
07. Sabor feat. Tempo (6.59)
08. Ticket To Know Where feat. Ohmega Watts (4.06)
09. Tell It Like You Mean it (4.51)