1 Giant Leap -1 Giant Leap
2002
Wiki – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Giant_Leap
FB – http://www.facebook.com/1GiantLeap
www – http://www.whataboutme.tv/
1 Giant Leap is a ‘concept’ band by Jamie Catto (of Faithless) and Duncan Bridgeman.
Essentially (as I understand it) they laid down a bunch of base tracks and took them around the world, getting [/mixing] contributions from musicians and, well, people with opinions on stuff.
The first time I ever heard of it was when Lise & I were flicking channels and we stumbled upon it on ABC2. Having no idea what it was we were watching or listening to, we were transfixed, nonetheless.
What we were watching was the ‘making of’ the second 1 Giant Leap album and we happened to tune in to see K.D. Lang doing her thing. From that I was hooked.
1 Giant Leap is up to you, as such. How you want to listen to it and what you want to make of it is up to you. It’s an uplifting, hopeful and deeply spiritual album, without being patronising or condescending as it could easily have been.
It’s easy enough to have on in the background and get into the beats or sit & listen to it with candles, headphones & incense.
The highlights are in the lineup as much as the music itself. The singles were, “Braided Hair,” [feat. Neneh Cherry and Speech, from Arrested Development] and, “My Culture,” [feat. Robbie Williams and Maxi Jazz, from Faithless].
The standout tracks for me are “Braided Hair,” “The Way You Dream,” [feat. Michael Stipe from R.E.M.] and, “Passion,” [feat. Michael Franti].
Overall, I love it.
9/10.
1 Giant Leap – What About Me?
2009
“What About Me?” is basically an extension of the début album, “1 Giant Leap.” The main difference is that whilst the first album took 6 months, this took several years. It has twice as many guest contributors, is a double CD and still holds the same air of humility as the original work.
The main difference I can see is that, “1 Giant Leap,” is an album with an accompanying ‘making of’ movie, whereas, “What About Me?” is a movie with an accompanying soundtrack. Both work equally well.
For me the whole experience of the visual and the auditory together makes the experience nourishing for the soul, with the audio alone being a warm reminder.
As I bought the whole lot altogether (the, “1 Giant Leap,” CD with the ‘making of’ DVD and the, “What About Me?” movie and the soundtrack), I don’t know how the music alone stands up without reminding me of the movie. I guess I could compare it to seeing a movie first then reading the book; the book [almost] always takes you a lot further than the movie can. In the same way the movies of 1 Giant Leap can take you a lot further than the music alone.
Stand out tracks for me are the opening track, “Come To The Edge,” “Wounded In All The Right Places,” [feat. K.D. Lang], “I Have Seen Trouble,” [feat. Michael Stipe] and “Serenity Prayer.”
Overall, I would have to say I prefer, “What About Me?” to the original.
9.5/10
