Sound and Motion, Vol. 1

Inevitably it's a mixed bag. Only a few of the videos are truly memorable, and some tracks are prone to the redundant funk that covers much of electronica's landscape. Still, the highlights are atmospheric, and the lows are never really low. The Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim take top honors with tracks 1 and 2, and for sheer visceral pulse you've got Goldie, Crystal Method, and the Prodigy to kick your brains out with shock-sights and violence. That's all balanced out by the calmer tracks, notably the Indian groove of Talvin Singh. Dieselboy's video is a prime example of abstract audiovisual symbiosis, while Sly & Robbie's "Superthruster" is a treat for fans of sci-fi anime. It's a pity the directors aren't credited on screen, but that's a minor quibble. Kick back, hit Play All, and prepare to be dazzled. --Jeff Shannon

I give this 4 stars because of my personal tastes. Eventhough I think Fat boy slim, Chemical brothers, Crystal method, and Prodigy are great on the DVD. I think their videos on this DVD are for a mainstream purpose since they target the average listners. This dvd would have taken a step further if it was to have Aphex Twin, Bjork, Portishead ect. But that is just me, i'm just a snob and going for that Indie/Break Through videos mentality.

Do buy this dvd or just stay up around 2 am hope MTV plays electronic music.


Don't Invest Your Time Or Your Money   July 14, 2002
the enlightened one (under the tree of enlightenment)
36 out of 55 found this review helpful

'Sound & Motion' is a collection of music videos that features some of the biggest names in Electronica today. It starts out with two of the year's biggest tracks, 'Block Rockin Beats' by the Chemical Brothers and 'The Rockefellar Skank' by Fatboy Slim. The 4th video 'Simple Man' by Josh Wink is extremely entertaining, followed by the pulse-pounding track 'Busy Child' by Crystal Method. By the time you reach 'Poison' by the Prodigy, you'd be thinking that this DVD has real potential.

However, it's the 6th video all the way up to the Underworld video (that's 6-14) that is reason to give 'Sound & Motion' a low score of two stars. This is where the viewer slips into the Jungle/Drum & Bass slot, and these music videos are the absolute worst. The Goldie track is extremely stale, the Photek's 'Ni Ten Ichi Ryu' is highly miss-able, Talvin Singh's music video is downright annoying, and I've never been a fan of Roni Size. The Dieselboy w/Technical Itch video is the only Jungle track on here that is tolerable. Then it's the last video, 'Future of the Future (Stay Gold)' by Deep Dish and Everything But The Girl that helps to redeem this colossal mess of a video compilation.

If you want to get my honest opinion, don't invest your time or your money in 'Sound & Motion'. I know it sounds harsh, but I mean it when I say that this is a giant mess. There's too much of an imbalance between good tracks ('Block Rockin Beats', 'Busy Child','Poison', 'Future of the Future') and bad tracks ('Temper Temper', 'Jaan', 'Superthruster'). The teardown comes from the Jungle/Drum & Bass tracks, and although there is some GREAT Jungle music out there, these ones just don't cut it. My philosophy is that if the songs are bad, there's no way you'll want to be sitting through the video.

I think if a 'Sound & Motion 2' is ever planned, the people in charge should definitely do more research on what the audience wants to be seeing. I mean, it is surprising to find no Trance videos on here, and Trance is the most popular style of dance music in the world.

Two stars for weak video selection and having little to no bonus features on the DVD.

- the enlightened one