A Lively Mind

New album sounds much more confidently

Without an overestimate, Paul Oakenfold’s second artist effort could be a rival for dance album of the year. This best-known DJ, remixer and producer who had done more than anyone else for house music in Britain took his name to most successful dance remixes including Simply Red, U2, Massive Attack, New Order, the Cure, M People and many others. A Lively Mind – just his second production effort – is even more attractive because albums of new productions are rare for Oakenfold. 2006’s album, the follow-up to 2002's Bunkka, also features plenty of collaborations with various musicians – from Spitfire, Bad Apples and Ryan Tedder to such music legends like Pharrell Williams, Grandmaster Flash and Sin City actress Brittany Murphy. But if on Bunkka Oakenfold didn’t feel certain, this production sounds much more confidently. And that's not enough for the artist who’s also planning to remix some new songs, score at least three films and promote a host of new bands through his own label, Perfecto, this year.

Perfect collaborations with various music icons

As it was already said A Lively Mind is based on perfect team-work tracks. One of them, for instance, - Faster Kill Pussycat featuring Brittany Murphy sex kitten vocal – successfully treads the line of sweet loosen tracks started on Bunkka. It finds an exciting groove with the disco-fabulous Sex 'n' Money with Pharrell Williams’ vocal. Praise the Lord gets precious and offers a Latin-flavored beat with a high-styled guitar. The hip-hop legend Grandmaster Flash's contribution is smooth collaboration Set It Off, which is beyond routine dance beats and synth sounds. This clever fusion of big beat dance and funky hip-hop really shows delightful sound, which Oakenfold can obtain by teaming up with one of hip-hop’s icons. It also returns us to the synth-heavy sound of 80’s. This certain mix wave from different influences isn’t falling down to the end of album. Final track Feed Your Mind made with Spitfire features a smart collision of indie-rock and dance music.

Eclectic song collection sounds fresh and not threadbare

On his second production effort, A Lively Mind, Paul Oakenfold appears at the crossroads of stylistic indecision. Mixing dance, hip-hop, electronica and rock, Oakenfold has created an eclectic song collection that sounds fresh and not threadbare. First of all it’s production of groove dance tracks, like successful fusion of ultra-snappy beats and snazzy guitars, Switch On, which places between unforgettable T-Rex’s 20th Century Boy and Oakenfold’s own Ready Steady Go and just makes our heads spin. A Lively Mind shows us Oakenfold both familiar and unexpectedly progressive. But, without a doubt, if you like Paul’s previous works, this record comes highly recommended. After all, twelve attractive tracks are making this album easier to recommend not only to the Oakenfold’s hardcore fan base but also to all people not indifferent to dance music.