Firstly let me say that Ben Mynott has never given me any money, he has never paid me a single penny nor has he ever persuaded/bribed/asked me to spread the word about Fragile State. Now that’s out the way, let me assure you that my Fragile State EVANGELISM is due to one thing and one thing only: the sheer brilliance of the music.

Remixes/Classics

Review

First the facts: this is a 3CD product containing both original Fragile State albums (‘the facts and the dreams’ and ‘voices from the dust bowl’) and a remix CD with remixes both for and by fragile state. It’s available on amazon for only £8.99. It will be the best value for money product you’ll ever buy.

Now the dreams: I recall I first purchased my first Fragile State album (the facts and the dreams) back in 2004 (2005 maybe?) after finding it on someone’s Amazon listmania list. I read about it, thought I might quite like it and so decided to purchase it but it wasn’t until a few months later when I was in HMV that I spotted it and went to buy it. On the way to the counter I spotted Koop’s ‘Waltz for Koop’ and oh so nearly bought that instead. THANK THE LORD I WENT WITH FRAGILE STATE.

Fast forward a few months and I’ve purchased the second album (voices from the dust bowl) and they have both helped me through my finals revision at university. It’s about this time I discover the BigChill festival and book tickets to my first every festival (incidentally with the same good friend I was in HMV with when I purchased my first album). So I turn up to the BigChill not really knowing what to expect but on the first afternoon one of the first bands I saw was Fragile State. A sensational live set which it turned out was their last ever live performance! Since that day I’ve been a devout Fragile State fan and rave about them whenever I get the chance.

So, enough gushing about how much I love them – onto the music! Let me re-state something: for £8.99 you get 3CDs of pure aural chilled funky AWESOMENESS. The first two original albums are really chilled but at the same time funky and motivating. Ideal for listening to when you’re run down – they’ll sooth your brain and warm your innards and then when you start to relax they pick you up and make your head nod with some funky beats. No vocals so to speak but some vocal effects. Both albums are full of tracks which meld together perfectly while each track maintains an individual texture. Unlike a lot of chillout albums which fade into obscurity as you listen to them over and over – this one really stands out as fresh and unique and brilliant every time you listen to it.

Then there’s the newly released 3rd CD of remixes which really exceeded my expectations. I’ve never been a huge fan of remixes in general but this CD is like the long lost studio album from Fragile State where they were playing around a little more and experimenting with different genres. Having said that – the CD really delivers and has some amazing tracks on it such as the Digitonal remix of Song Of Departure.

I simply cannot rate this collection highly enough. If you’re in the slightest fan of chillout then you’ll love these albums. In fact if you have a pulse then you should consider buying this – if you don’t like it I can guarantee you one of your friends will.

PS – you can read my review on Amazon of this here.