Top Albums of The Decade #7

Broadway Project – Compassion (2001)

I’m still a bit miffed at the relative obscurity of this record. In a decade largely devoid of anything (good) from DJ Shadow and pre-Portishead’s Third, Compassion was my only fix for poignant, beat-heavy electronic music. The drums are hard, the snares are intentionally crisp to the point of distortion and the samples come from jazz, hazy psychedelic rock and liberal snatches of film dialogue. The choice of vocal snippets especially fill the album with a sense of despair and misery. ‘Non-Resistance’ for instance is underscored by a mournful piano and a woman imploring you to ‘help me / help my children / my men / my women’. Yeah, creepy. Not an all-occasions listening experience, but a rewarding one when you’re in the appropriate frame of mind.


‘Non-Resistance’

Music | February 7th, 2010

5 Responses to “Top Albums of The Decade #7”

  1. Michelle Says:
    February 8th, 2010 at 12:29 am

    I did also like the Fog albums for the “fix” you described, but yeah, this was good. Would it be mean to remind you that I saw Broadway Project in a tiny room for probably about 8 quid (which was for them AND Chris Bowden)?

  2. shtikman Says:
    February 8th, 2010 at 1:14 am

    I think I have the first Fog album somewhere but frankly I remember nothing of it. I bought Compassion for a girl I fancied and told her she’d really like it if she liked Portishead. Her response was, “I thought it was too depressing.”

    And I hope you mean you saw Broadway Project + Chris Bowden BEFORE WE MET.

  3. Michelle Says:
    February 9th, 2010 at 10:08 pm

    No, I saw them after returning to Singapore, on one of my visits to London. You know, visits like I’ve spent the last couple of years urging you to do…

  4. flowersblooming. Says:
    February 11th, 2010 at 4:45 am

    One of the best and most atmospheric albums ever.

  5. Dherek Anernamthy Says:
    February 20th, 2010 at 6:41 am

    I really like the over all sound of the compassion album it makes me feel atmospheric when i listen to the music, and i also get lost in the music too, which is another reason why i will buy this album. You guys should check us out on the web at http://www.productiontrax.com

    Thank you for are time, i really loved the music!

    Dherek Abernathy.

Leave a Reply