You know you are in for a treat when you see the wonderful Q-tip artwork for Luciano's Live @ Weetamix cd on Thomas Brinkmann's Max Ernst label. Recorded live at a club called Weetamix in Geneva, Switzerland, which has specialized in live events since 1994 - a  place I think that certainly knows their stuff because this Luciano set is amazing.

The rhythms are insistent throughout this cd and there are hints to me of the Fax label and Atom Heart in the dub echo feel which permeates the entire set but Luciano also gives the rhythms that extra push by spicing them with African and Latin drum patterns. I think while most live sets of this nature tend to wear out their welcome, I think Luciano has a way of keeping his set fresh while retaining a continuity which makes it move - and make the listener move too.

The whole cd is tremendous but personal favorites of mine include track 3 - I really like the percolating rhythm which ebbs and flows while the echoed bass gives a wonderful dub feel. The watery samples near the end coupled with the spoken sample send this one over the top for me. Track 5 is a nice break in the set to a more subtle rhythm but more pronounced echoed percussion and bass synths. There's also a manipulated spoken voice sample which adds some more variety as the rhythms pick up and percolate around, becoming more insistent along with the dub effects. The ending has an interesting accordian-like melody to it as it leads into the next track. And track 9 - the last track here, is also a favorite of mine - with its scratching industrial sounds which introduce it which is counter pointed with it's almost calypso keyboards which follow - all sent awash with some echoed watery dub synth sounds which bring this set to a close. You pretty much can't get any better than this.

Check out Luciano's discography.