(3-track demo/ 2003/ 'GRAND CENTRAL RECORDS')
Fingathing have landed to thankfully make a difference. Not since first hearing innovative and progressive dance-based demos from good friends Rococo and Conformist have I been this enthralled by music that is music in its very essence, granted structure by beats and samples.
Having said that, the first track of this demo is the radio edit of 'Wasting Time,' and though its interesting introduction that's reliant on a sample of someone breathing and some eccentric piano tinklings, this version of the song is surprisingly the biggest turn-off. The obligatory SFX of alarm clocks are fused with bland hip-hop tick-tocking rap vocals and arty jazz grooves which aren't a bad thing, but still on first hear I feared that Fingathing were going to be another combo similar to the frankly bizarre Maximum Force.
But hold the phone and the pendulum dear Grandfather, for the 2 subsequent and exclusively instrumental remixes of 'Wasting Time' are sublime in the strictest sense. The remixes, essentially, are nothing like the radio edit (which is always perturbing), in that they are perfectly structured tunes and actually melodic, with orchestral strings strung-out to a fantastically chilled melody which ensures - all of a sudden - 'Wasting Time' is the most enthralling tune I have heard in ages. And ages. And ages.
In fact this music, this tune is utterly exquisite and exciting in all its melancholic subtleties, while the second 'Treva Whatever' remix is further embellished musically with more bass, more drums, more funk and an airily experimental, non-restrained vibe that genuinely does sound to be the perfect tonic for any degree of modern-life stress.
This is ambience at its best. And, in an ideal world that recognizes and rewards real talent, the mysterious Fingathing would right now be getting dressed for success, oh yes. (STEVE RUDD)
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