FILA BRAZILLIA – DICKS (TWENTYTHREE)
October 6th, 2004 by freddie96
Let’s be honest. Despite having pioneered chilled beats that veer equally into ambient moods and dancefloor grooves, Fila Brazillia have never really made the truly classic album I believe they have in them. Early works like ‘Maim That Tune’, ‘Mess’ and ‘Black Market Gardening’ came close, but the five or six albums we’ve had since have been pretty uneven in quality. I’m a huge fan but long ago I learnt that you need to listen to their stuff before you part with your money.
So I’m greatly relieved that I was sent ‘Dicks’ to review, as unfortunately it’s one of their albums that I’d rather not buy. Comprising some twenty three tracks – most are only two or three minutes long – it’s wildly inventive and funky as shit, but a completely unrelaxing listening experience. As soon as they hit upon a rewarding groove, they’re off in another direction, strumming out some simple folk-like rhythm which just as swiftly veers off into pure wibble.
What can they have been thinking of? Turning to their website for some explanation, I discover that the album is a swift follow-up to the album released earlier this year which virtually disappeared without trace. Returning to their out-takes from those sessions, the Filas decided they had enough decent material to create a whole new album. And lo, ‘Dicks’ was born, the title presumably chosen solely for the pleasure of being able to slap a sticker on the front which reads ‘You Have Fila Brazillia’s Dicks In Your Hand’.
It’s hard to understand why they weren’t more selective about the material presented here. The good stuff simply cries out for more space to develop, so that there are none of those lovely lolloping seven or eight minute tunes that the Filas do so well. What you get instead is a whimsical kind of musical chairs, hopping between the playfully mellow to the downright bonkers. When I played it in the office, one of my colleagues remarked that parts of it struck him as ‘Johnny Morris meets Orbital’. For me that says it all.
Freddie B
Fila Brazillia’s ‘Dicks’ is out now on 23 Records
