Bumblebeez - Princeumberto and the Sister ofIll

Wed 26th Sep, 2007 in Music Reviews

Prince Umberto and the Sister of Ill
Bumblebeez
81/Modular

At Modular HQ, they must have bulk-bought a whole lot of crazy juice recently, and spiked their artists’ drinks with it. I mean, look at their roster; the happy-go-lucky Softlightes, the fucking mental Klaxons and now Australia’s even more berserk answer to the astral-traveling Britons, The Bumblebeez.

_Prince Umberto_… is the most ambitious electronic album released since Gotye’s Like Drawing Blood. Like Sir de Backer, Bumblebeez draw on a huge range of live samples to create a cut-and-paste pastiche which morphs into a groove-tastic rollercoaster, one which every so often teeters over the edge of the rails into techno-fuzz oblivion.

I’d love to say that the best songs are the ones you already know. And there’s no denying that the slamming, Bootsy-Collins jam Dr Love or the Latino-rock of Rio aren’t great fun to bounce along to in your car with your fully-sick-subwoofer pounding out the bass. But the real joy comes in the more understated tracks, such as the thrilling Freak Ya Loneliness.

I remember seeing Bumblebeez’ set at a Modular party almost two years ago now (back when Ghostwood were still the Ghosts – woooah). I also recall thinking the performance was great fun, but musically pretty average. But this record has converted me into a rap-rock-deep-funk-garage-electro-thrash-noise-squeegee fan.

Go Beez Go!