The Trip 2 - Navigated by Tom Middleton

The Trip 2 - Navigated by Tom Middleton image

Released 23^rd October 2006

When you see Tom Middleton's name attached to a compilation album you know you're in for a treat. Through his productions, remixes and legendary DJ sets, he has travelled to the farthest corners of sound.

His recordings as Cosmos, Global Communication and The Jedi Knights (alongside Mark Pritchard) have consistently broken new ground in electronic music, and set the standard that others rarely reach. His remixes are still in great demand, with recent re-rubs for the likes of Amp Fiddler and the Mighty Dub Katz (aka Norman Cook) showing he's still at the top of his game.

Demonstrating his musically sensitive side, Tom made his live debut at this year’s Big Chill with new project AMBA (together with an 18 piece string ensemble and band). Expect to hear much more from AMBA in 2007.

"The Trip 2 is a vertical and a horizontal selection of lifetracks for the iTunes generation. It would seem I live inside iTunes these days, as do most of the population, spending days compiling playlists for virtual compilations”, Tom says.

Adding: “Initially delving through the Universal archives to unearth some forgotten gems for re-evaluation in a new context - supplementing with tracks from my playlists entitled Beautiful Music, Sextrax, Early 90s Hip Hop+Breakbeats, Ambient-Prog, Soundtracks Without Films, Obscuriosities, 70s TV Nostalgia, Future Folk… only timeless tunes from the present and recent past that just simply need to be heard and shared."

The trip begins with a six second Thames TV ident before the unmissable chords of the “This Is Your Life” theme-tune. A blend of electro dub and raw hip-hop follows including hits by Stereo MCs, Eric B & Rakim and a Mark Ronson remix of French dudes Air.

Switching effortlessly between genres, eras and styles; the classic of Freda Payne’s 60s hit "Unhooked Generation" and "Rock Me Again" by Lyn Collins, sit side by side with modern day electronic efforts "The Wisp" by Simian and Jakatta’s ambient-esque "The Other World".

From dubby breaks and electro, right back to soul and even folk, no audible rock has been left unturned. Family Recordings’ latest offering "The Trip 2" navigated by Tom Middleton is clearly the way to go.