April 27, 2000
Journey Inwards
What he really wants is to escape the confines of rhythm altogether....
6 / 10
Somewhere in the wilds of Hertfordshire, drum'n'bass iminence grise LTJ Bukem bunkers down for four years to assemble his debut solo album. Time passes. He fails to notice that the genre has been eclipsed in the popular consciousness by speed garage, two-step and whatever council-estate minted musical form record company execs are throwing money at this week. And good for him, as the enigmatic one's decision to take drum'n'bass as a starting point and venture beyond its margins has kept him ahead of the curve.
'Journey Inwards' confirms that a dogged refusal to follow the rules has led Bukem to a modern-day, futuristic form of jazz-funk, as is apparent on the cover version of 'Sunrain'. This is only a dead end to purists, who'll be titillated by 'Watercolours' and the rigidly conventional 'Close To The Source' and nothing else. Less hung-up souls will marvel at the way 'Point Of View''s orchestral suite mutates into 'Viewpoint'; and at the evocative open spaces and simulated cricket chirps on 'Deserted Vaults'.
To hazard an educated guess, it would seem that, though rather prominent, Bukem has mainly added live and sampled drumbeats as an afterthought (check the political 'Rhodes To Freedom'). What he really wants is to escape the confines of rhythm altogether.
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