Critic's Review
John Bush, All Music Guide
Invited to construct a mix album from the rather thin back catalog of Shadow Records, Carl Craig almost proves up to the task, finally drafting several imports from his own Planet E label to finish the job. Though Shadow exists mainly to release the domestic versions of full-lengths by a few European producers, Craig sifts through the scattershot discography and deftly outlines his continuing meld of academic techno and earthier jazz. He opens with a great track by Jimpster, one of his closest fellow fusionaires, then looks to the Detroit-connected John Arnold for the drum-heavy "Universal Mind" (originally released on Transmat). One of the better Shadow LPs, Pop Artificielle by Atom Heart's lb project, gets plundered for two tracks: covers of soul giants James Brown ("Superbad") and Prince ("The Future"). Elsewhere, Craig recruits brother Reggie for the jacking track "Second Wind," and Recloose for the atmospheric, Lonnie Liston Smith-inspired "Landscaping." Pulling together a dozen or so disparate tracks into a discernible whole is quite a task; it's a tribute to Carl Craig's ear that this mix comes off at all.
