AIM - Hinterland

04'02

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AIM
Hinterland
(GCCD112) Grand Central 2002
13 Tracks. 60mins21secs.
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When Mark Rae was still officiating Grand Central, then called Gone Clear, form the back of Fat City Records in Manchester, Andy Turner was a regular customer there. Soon the two got chatting, and a couple of weeks later, Turner was dropping a demo tape at the shop. The tracks, recorded on an old Amiga with a handful of front-of-magazine softwares, already displayed the intrinsic quality of his music, based on chilled arrangements, soulful melodies and hip hop rhythmic structures.
Hinterland revisits many of the beautiful settings explored in Cold Water Music three years ago. Turner patiently assembles sounds and samples and creates little atmospheric constructions, on which guest vocalists and rappers superpose their own universes. Hinterland kicks off on a slightly melancholic touch, with Intro and The Girl Who Fell Through The Ice, on which Mark Rae’s cousin Kate Rogers, who already featured on Cold Water Music, weaves a tight melody on beautifully layered beats and strings. Turner distillates on this track the most delightful side of his music; cinematic arrangements and poignant vocals. Further along, Good Disease, first single to be lifted from the album, shows signs of a similar nature, with its lazy beat, twitchy recorder and unusual falsetto singing courtesy of Babybird main man Stephen Jones. A somewhat simple love song (Don’t worry baby, it a good disease) Good Disease is slightly reminiscent of some of the most intimate moments of Air's Moon Safari or Zero 7’s Simple Things. A Twilight Zone was originally written for Kate Rogers, but it is actually Andy who sings it. Vaguely evocative of The Sundays thanks to its acoustic guitar, the track reveals a slightly more optimistic side to Hinterland. Beside the distorted pop songs, the album also offers a handful of nonchalant hip hop rhymes, when Turner gets the chance to work with Souls Of Mischiefs (No Restriction) and Diamond D, who he names as one of his biggest influences, on The Omen. Alongside Fall Break, these two tracks get down to the essence of the man’s music, when the calm constructions get knocked sideways by fast moving intelligent lines and urban attitude. In between, Hinterland offers a handful of perfectly formed organic instrumentals, brought to life with clever samples and delicate melodies.
With this second album, Andy Turner develops further the atmospheres explored in Cold Water Music. The faultless production and brilliant compositions serves his carefully chosen collaborators to the best. The music of Aim is evocative, powerful and emotional. Unmissable.

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TRACK LISTING

01	Intro	08	The Omen
02	The Girl Who Fell Through The Ice	09	Linctus
03	What Do People Do All Day	10	Vipco
04	No Restriction	11	A Twilight Zone
05	Fall Break	12	From A Seaside Town
06	Guimar	13	Hinterland
07	Good Disease

AIM DISCOGRAPHY

COLD WATER MUSIC Grand Central 1999 Buy it on line now	Intro Cold Water Music Force Sail Downstate Ain't Got No Time To Waste Fat City True To Hip Hop Demonique Tree A Lock & A Cloud Journey To The End Of Night From Here To Fame
HINTERLAND Grand Central 2002 Buy it on line now	Intro The Girl Who Fell Through The Ice What Do People Do All Day No Restriction Fall Break Guimar Good Disease The Omen Linctus Vipco A Twilight Zone From A Seaside Town Hinterland

THE SURFER'S GUIDE TO AIM

AIM-HINTERLAND
Official Aim site, includes biographies, discography, message board, info on tour dates, sound files with explainations on each tracks of Hinterland, photos and more...

GRAND CENTRAL
Mark Rae's Manchester based record label offers plenty of information on its artists and releases.