MUSIC REVIEWS

Audio Active
Return of the Red I
(Beat Renaissance / Warner Artists)

"May the Bong be with you," say Audio Active on the opening track to "Return of the Red I," and it's an auspicious statement because of what follows lyrically: the Marijuana Initiative meets Darth Vadar (and Yoda introduced them). This is mind-expanding techno-dub, and it's never been so beautifully wack.

Audio Active are originators on a planet with few equals. On this, their third full album, the Tokyo trio takes off where they left on "Apollo Choco." Working again with acclaimed producer Adrian Sherwood, Audio Active sound less ominous and sinister on Red I than its predecessor and its terrorvisions of Robot War.

The dubby, thumping bass will have you head-bobbing in no time. Trebly tweaks and sequenced guitar crashes are in full effect here, but credit these guys for knowing when to pull back on the reins - there's rarely even the hint of indulgence. The energy is - if you'll excuse the pun - "high."

Riding the dub wave, they move into high gear with floor-friendly beats and techno manuevers that add greater depth to the sound. After your head has had enough of the up-and-down chicken jerk, you can ease back into some mellower inner space with the album's snail-paced, hypnotic digressions.

While there may not be the sophistication of UFO's techno-latin-jazz or the complex sampletronic gymnastics of the Boom Boom Satellites, Red I has just the energized and laidback, karmic mix to warrant repeated listening, headphones cupped firmly over your ears.

This album could be a clarion call for herbalists in the digital age. Or "weed specialists," in Audio Active speak. In William Gibson's cyberpunk novels, the Rastafarian's would be playing Red I on MD Walkmans all day long and the "Repeat" mode would be switched to "On."

Audio Active are not the least bit shy about their obsessive love of good smoke, and as if to hammer the point home loud and clear, starting with the album's title, they milk the theme throughout the 11-track collection. These titles are too good not to mention here: "Psycho Buds," "Emergency HosPOTal," "Stoned Troopers," "Kick the Bong Around," and, my favorite, "Hempire Strikes Back."

By now you have noticed, where the pot-theme, dub-mentality allegiance trails off, there's plenty of Star Wars references to make the CD a maniacal must-purchase for the same people that bought up all those two-liter Pepsi bottles last summer just so they could get the Phantom Menace collector's caps.

We know Audio Active take their music seriously, and Fortune smiles on us because they don't take themselves too seriously. This makes them a lot more interesting; behind the puns and themes and lyrical marijuana, they have a wholly original sound that reaches all the body's senses, getting deep and introspective, while never forgetting how to have fun. Slip on the headphones, lay back on your futon and crank to "11." Oh yeah, and pass us a spliff, please. -NICHOLAS BLACK

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