Album Review: Milton Jackson - Crash

Back from the brink of self enforced retirement Milton Jackson releases Crash, a slab of chilled house. What's obvious is that Jackson's brand of house possesses a shiny, almost sterile sound which is about as atmospheric as walking down the corridor of a hospice. I'm sorry but I can only look at this album from the perspective of a casual house listener and because of this I need to question whether this record will have any crossover appear. One wonders if Milton Jackson can belatedly follow his fellow Scot and former collaborator Mylo who tasted mainstream success with Destroy Rock & Roll. On the evidence available throughout Crash this would not be the case, even when 'Orbit 3' takes us into a more progressive territory; we're still nowhere near the brand of house that was released during the Golden Days of GuerillaRecords.The music video for 'Crash' sees Jackson standing smugly whilst getting assaulted by various implements and instruments; influenced by this, I smashed a bottle of vinegar over my head to prove that I could still feel, for Jackson's placid deep house don't half draw your eyelids southwards. Some dance music (and I use that term rather generally) can almost make it seem like you're walking around with the music from Tetris stuck in your head. 'Got to Hold On' confounds this somewhat narrow minded belief. All I can see is a square block trying to fit into a rectangular hole.

Having also had the fortune to listen to the remixes of Crash, it comes across that pretty much all of the tracks require an additional sprinkling of flavour to spruce them up a bit, for plainly plodding along in their original state is unlikely to even get the most enthusiastic house heads on the floor. Crash just feels over-produced, to the point that it comes over as lifeless. Every track lacks any kind of distinction, even one such as 'Ghosts in My Machines' which has a rather opaque energy ultimately goes no further than airy hypnotism.

Despite displaying a moody wavering concoction of bleeps and rolling bass-lines the subtleties will only be picked up by the true house connoisseurs. Those of us luddites who find somebody messing about on the ones and twos complicated enough are unlikely to gain much enjoyment from Crash because as an album it gives us nothing to really get into.