Disappeared is the sound of
drum'n'bass dissected, blended with a
spy movie score, and given the acidic, demonic twist of a carnival sideshow. It's also
Spring Heel Jack's best album. It's no surprise that the album draws comparisons to
John Barry film scores, as
Spring Heel Jack seems to consist of card-carrying members of a 007 fan club, but they pull out all the stops here, producing muscular
spy movie music that seems extracted from Hades itself. Devastating, bleak, and intensely powerful melodies wail and storm, jazzy fuzz-box
jungle notes twist in the air, and trumpets seem to assert that the forces of darkness have been let loose.
Ambient noodlings and screeches cause tension and chills.
"Mit Wut" is ominous and fierce
big-band electronica. Sci-fi alarms ring out on
"Galina." One wonders if the music is meant to be
industrial-dance-
jazz or meant to conjure a
techno-
spy-stompfest. Unlike the music of
spy aficionado
Squarepusher, there's little whimsy in these 11 songs. While
big beat leanings occasionally crop up, as on
"I Undid Myself," the tone of the album remains relentlessly, compellingly bleak. There are moments when the duo seems to strive for chill-out vibes and when evocative violins inject grace and beauty, but the album never gives up the tinkered madness at its base.
"Wolfing" concludes the album perfectly, raging aggressively like a massive steam train headed toward oblivion. Noisy, stark, and brimming with inventive, confused
electronics,
Disappeared is
Spring Heel Jack's masterwork. ~ Tim DiGravina
![Hold Your Colour [2005]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5060072303626_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Hold Your Colour [2005]")
![Timeless [The Remixes]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5060555216429_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Timeless [The Remixes]")
![Timeless [25 Year Anniversary Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/5060555213664_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Timeless [25 Year Anniversary Edition]")
