Sofa Surfers

Disregard the above review slamming the Sofa Surfers. Thunderball the best ESL artist?!? Ok, they have some good tracks, but their sound has always been way too similar to the much more polished and talented Thievery, and they continue to live in TC's shadow. Which brings me to the point - while Thievery are excellent, and I dig Conte, Ursula, etc., much of their label mates start to send the same after a while, and I like the diversity that the Sofa Surfers bring to ESL. From first listen, good beats and funky atmospherics pervade - there's enough weirdness here without being as obtuse and ¨trying to be weird¨as Tobin or Boards of Canada, but the beats are quality, have depth, and in my mind a cut above a lot of the genre. I do agree with the above comment about re-releasing a previous album under a different name and not telling anyone, though.

DONT GET FOOLED!!!..this cd is a re-release of an import cd called Encounters.
It has been re-named and is on a different label. Why do they do this !!!...if you are going to release it domestically at least give it the same name!!!

Ok, let's be honest here...this album, cd, mix tape...whatever you want to call it is pure garbage...garbage. And I say that in a nice way. I say this because I have a little bit of history with Sofa Surfers. I was introduced to Sofa Surfers years ago (1997 to be exact) with a super hot single called "Sofa Rockers", and mind you that it was re-mixed by two geniuses, K&D. After hearing this track, I thought there were good things to come from the group. But Sofa Surfers have never really got off the sofa to surf; their music has always been distant to the genre they chose to pursue. So now they have fallen into the hands of Thievery...which is not a bad thing, but there is no improvement to their style or lack there of. This album lacks understanding and forethought in everyway, it's like they had a bunch of clowns trying to juggle turntables and mixers all at the same time with no success. 1st off, that hot single I spoke about is 7 years old and we are suppose to take this as new material?...what the hell is a 7 year old single doing on a 2004 album. 2nd, all the vocal artist on this album with the exception of "See the Light" can not sing or rap to life the planet. They sound like shower singers...next time use American Idol contestants. And 3rd, to Thievery...stop putting you name on trash, your BEST artist is Thunderball without a doubt...and I sure they are getting sick of all these whack artist you have on your label. See the light Thievery!!!!

You need to pick this record up. It's sick. Drenched in dub and hip-hop there are some killer tracks on here especially the Thievery Corporation remix of "Can I Get A Witness" worth the cost of the CD alone.

This is a great album to sit down and relax to. If u like Kruder & Dorfmeister you will dig this.

i first heard these guys when my friend bought cargo on vinyl. I used to listen to it all the time and it simply blew me away. As I am a live kit drummer and conga player who plays along side Dj''s, especially dub and breaks, I gained a massive amount of inspiration from the simplicity and fatness of the surfers sound in this album. Its dirty yet smooth and creamy. How I would love to play live drums and percussion with such an act as these guys......ROCK ON SURFERS!!!!!!

I read that this was considered "experimental", so I didn't really know what to expect and the bands title didn't help much either. I can say that having bought and listened Transit ans Cargo that Sofa Surfers are in a class by themselves. These tunes are mainly intramentals, and ther're solid and tightly composed. There is the influence of reggae,ska,and dance hall also and this gives the music and interesting hook it might other wise lack. There is no sloppiness either in messing the two styles together.

On the Klein Records site, it says that Sofa Surfers are a "multimedia collective [that specializes] in experimental beats mixed with heavy dub and freaky jazz references." These guys can be grouped into the musical spectrum of the new European dub movement, which has Kruder & Dorfmeister's smooth jazz-sophisticate sound on one end and Pole's ultra-minimal machine dub at the other extreme.

Landing somewhere in between on this, their second full-length release, they explore atmospheric soundscapes on tracks like "Container" and "Guns & Bombs & Knives", dark jazz-funk on "I Asked For Water" and "If It Were Not For You" while toying with a more traditional dub style on "The Low Rider" and "Long Bone". Mainly instrumental, but nice reggae-style vocals on "Beans & Rice" and "If It Were Not For You".

Comparisons to Smith & Mighty or Massive Attack would not be unwarranted, although these guys are definitely more experimental.

Oh, and there's LOTS of bass...

I picked up Cargo on an experimental whim, having never heard of Sofa Surfers, and intrigued by the cover photo. It suggested cold techno-like music, which in some ways is true.

On first listening I was fairly ambivalent, the CD begins sounding very harsh and disjointed, but mellows out further in, with dubby vocals and chilled bass sounds. There is still that cold mechanical edge to all the tracks, softened and contrasted with the limited vocals and relaxing strings (which as a techno fan is a pleasing blend).

It grew on me, and I would recommend it to anyone that likes Kruder and Dorfmeister, or maybe Plastikman. They all share a similar atmosphere even if the style is different.

Sofa Surfers provide the perfect soothing music for a summer evening, sitting on my balcony, whatching the waves in the ocean, with a cold margarita in my hands... (wish it wasn't only a dream... that's anyway what i was feeling when i heared this record). Its so calm and beutiful you can simply feel the nature sings. They make great fluid and soft music i simply repeated hearing again and again

1. SOFA ROCKERS (R. DORFMEISTER MIX) - SOFA SURFERS
2. ENCOUNTER IN BAHIA - THIVERY CORP.
3. BOMBAY - NEW JAZZ HUSTLERS
4. F*UCK DUB / FAUNA FLASH MIX - TOSCA
5. MANAUS BY NIGHT - BOOZOO BAJOU
6. PLANET ALPHA (FREAKNIKS & LAJ REMIX) - FREAKNICS
7. SPIRITS - ASTRA MATRIX
8. RHYTHM FACTOR - IN DEEP
9. MEXICANOS - MR SCRUFF
10. DA DOUB - HONESTY
11. SKUNKUS MR FUNKUS (JITTERBUG MIX) - THE KALEIDOSCOPE

Like Kruder & Dorfmeister, Sofa Surfers are from Vienna, Austria. The European vibe can be felt in `Transit's every track, whether it's the accent of the sporadic mc, like on `Walking Ghosts', or the continuous down-tempo grooves, subtle and classy and rare in the US (Sasha & Digweed come close, as well as Aphex Twin, at his least aggressive and most lyrical). Despite evident comparisons, Sofa Surfers are smart enough to, while sustaining the K&D element, stray away from it and delve into their own harmonious `testings'. On `Transit' it works to a certain degree - the band's skill is palpable, but they lack focus, consistence and confidence. Which is forgivable. They were newcomers, after all.
It is the kind of album that would appeal to jazz-lovers, electronic geeks, stoners and those who strive for musical variety. THAT `Transit' has a barrel-full of, yet, while appealing, it sounds unfinished, or inadequately assembled. Take the opening track, `Bon Voyage', the album's highlight. Slow and methodical at the start, it astonishes with an abrupt tirade of precise drum-n-bass that is unexpectedly bracing. The problem is, the next three tracks after that make the listener long for the `bombshell' that `Bon Voyage' had hidden for them - unfortunately, they don't.
Which is not to say they're not dexterously produced. A little bit of saxophone; a fragment of African drums; rich, dexterous layers of understated beats over stretched uncanny melodies generate positive reception, predominantly on `Monoscopolis', `Tse Tse Fly' (which has otherworldly vocals over a plausibly dawdling drumming hum) and `Lada Taiga'.
K&D create definitive chill-out albums. They accentuate the fine power of music to express more than words ever can. Their devious, velvety rhythms have already propelled them to stardom - their sound is recognizable, it's distinct. Sofa Surfer`s "Transit' is NOT distinct, yet introduces a skillful new promising band to the European world of refined down-tempo grooves.

PS Check out their better, 2d album `Cargo', and their masterwork, `Encounters'.

GET this if you like: Red Snapper, Plaid, Tosca, K&D, Four Tet, DJ Krush

Nice, trippy european based sound with all kinds of arrangements - from reggae to classic downbeat techno. Sofa surfers are showing that they are mature band. Very similar to Spacer, Juryman....

Good buy for sure

When you think of Austria you're probably not thinking of hip-hop, and even if you somehow were you wouldn't be thinking "top league" hip-hop. Think again.
This album happens to easily be amongst the top hip hop albums not only of this year but of the past 5 years as well.
An explosive barrage of ultra dark beats and scratches and electronic soundscapes mixed with excellent lyrics coming rather from the...left is what is on offer here.
But, what differentiates this LP from the 100s of its musical style out there is that everything about it is intelligent and that it has a "mission" evident by the lyrics and driven home by the music.
This is the 3rd offering from this band and up to now they were little known outside of Central Europe, but with the "Encounters" they could be destined for much bigger things. Even though i do wish them that i think this album is too intelligent to propel them into the mainstream and it's cool that way too.
If you're looking for an album that's almost gothic without being gothic and bombastic without being silly, dark without treading old surface, and one that sticks to your mind upon the first listening then this is it. And hey, you can brag to your friends about a great group that few (yet) know..

BUT!!! these guys are quite good. try kid loco or kruder and dorfmeister for better stuff. the sofa surfers are like thievery corporation, in that they don't reach the same levels of high standards that the aforementioned do.

saying that i'll give it a listen - at the store.

i wrote this review because the other guys was so bad.

nik

These guys are the Sabbath of down tempo, they're grundgy. With some dub too.

When you think of Austria you're probably not thinking of hip-hop, and even if you somehow were you wouldn't be thinking "top league" hip-hop. Think again.
This album happens to easily be amongst the top hip hop albums not only of this year but of the past 5 years as well.
An explosive barrage of ultra dark beats and scratches and electronic soundscapes mixed with excellent lyrics coming rather from the...left is what is on offer here.
But, what differentiates this LP from the 100s of its musical style out there is that everything about it is intelligent and that it has a "mission" evident by the lyrics and driven home by the music.
This is the 3rd offering from this band and up to now they were little known outside of Central Europe, but with the "Encounters" they could be destined for much bigger things. Even though i do wish them that i think this album is too intelligent to propel them into the mainstream and it's cool that way too.
If you're looking for an album that's almost gothic without being gothic and bombastic without being silly, dark without treading old surface, and one that sticks to your mind upon the first listening then this is it. And hey, you can brag to your friends about a great group that few (yet) know..