Kaleidoscope

On KALEIDOSCOPE, DJ Food has created a mysterious, magical journey into the possibilities of sound. For this album, the collective slimmed down to a nucleus of P.C. and Strictly Kev (founder members Matt Black and Jonathan Moore having departed to concentrate on their work in Coldcut). The result is a focussed and accessible collection incorporating jazz, hip-hop and film soundtrack ambience.
"Full Bleed" sets the pace with some mellow Fender Rhodes piano, slinky vibraphone and sumptuous moody strings. This track and others are punctuated with cut-up speech samples which could have become tiresome were it not for DJ Food's skilled approach. After the bongo Moog frenzy of "Cookin'", there's "The Angry Young Rebel", where word jazz guru Ken Nordine intones gravely over an infectious beatnik riff. The beats drop off altogether during the latter half of the album, where some of the finest moments occur. "The Sky At Night" evokes a surreal underwater world, while the soothing string-soaked "Minitoka" sounds like a warm summer evening, bringing KALEIDOSCOPE to a perfect conclusion.|