| Artist |
| Mind.In.A.Box |
| Title |
| R.E.T.R.O. |
| Format/Cat |
| CD mind 147 |
| Label |
| Dependent |
| Style |
| Electronica |
| Date of review |
| April 2010 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 8/10 |
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After completing the 'Black' trilogy with the release of the superb Crossroads & the fact that it coincided with the (thankfully temporary) demise of Dependent Records it was fully expected that any subsequent releases from messrs Poiss & Hadwiger would be a very different kettle of fish from what had gone before. Even so, I'll bet no-one saw this one coming! What they've done is to look back to their formative years in the 80s & particularly the Commodore 64 computer, even reworking some of the famous game themes of the time & taking the raw potential of such well-loved themes as Parts 1 & 3 of 'Last Ninja', the former of which proving very similar to the theme from The Terminator while the latter boasts some superb lead lines, as well as 'Light Force' (originally composed by Rob Hubbard, the maestro of C64 game music) & 'The Last V8' & transforming them into powerful & full-sounding offerings embellished by the typical C64 effects that are sure to evoke pangs of nostalgia in anyone who ever used such a machine (myself included!) while 'Shades' proves it was well ahead of its time by sounding totally relevant now!
That this is a very personal revisiting of the duo's past is made clearer still by the all-new tracks which pop up later such as 'I Love 64' which offers an intriguing take on a famous question from The Beatles (listen to it to see what I mean!) & '8 Bits', both of which see the return of the unmistakeable MIAB computer voice that soon makes itself at home on these pleasantly poppy offerings (the latter has been released as a single &, you never know, could just became a surprise hit, it certainly has the potential!) while the symphonic & stately 'Whatever Mattered' which features human voice for a change & the remix of 'Mind Killer', which stems from the duo's days of working on computer game soundtracks of their own, should both appeal to fans of JM Jarre & the like. But, should this nostalgia have left you pining for the return of yesteryear one title offers the sobering truism that 'We Cannot Go Back To The Past'; wise words indeed!
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