Classic Album Review: Audio Active - Spaced Dolls (2001)

As found in a $5 bargain bin somewhere near you … 

(to be fair, this is yet another one of those “classic albums” specific only to your blogger’s definition of “classic”, obviously). 

Despite getting by with a little help from highly influential friends such as Adrian Sherwood, Keith Le Blanc, and Doug Wimbish, among others, the chronically underrated Japanese outfit, Audio Active, remain a largely unknown quantity when it comes to exposure in the mainstream. Having long been a fan of their unique blend of reggae, dub-hop, and electronica, I’m continually astounded to discover multiple copies of their 2001 album Spaced Dolls priced down and left to sit unloved in the bargain bins of practically every music store I’ve ever frequented. It might be just me, but … hello! … WHY!? 

Whatever the reason for that is - and it probably has something to do with their challenging and hard-to-categorise sound - had Spaced Dolls been released as the work of a rather more high profile artist (such as: ??? - insert populist and trend-orientated electronica collective of choice), then I’m fairly certain it would have met with some amount of critical acclaim, and may have even been sold to an unsuspecting public as “ground-breaking” … and it would just as likely have sold by the truckload.

Spaced Dolls contains a mix of all three aforementioned genres, but even those descriptions barely cover the wide range of material on offer. Throw in some hip hop, a touch of ambience, and large portions of innovative spacey trance-like stuff and you get a rough idea what Audio Active is all about. 

Some of it may not be accessible enough for Audio Active to achieve what might be called “commercial success” but that doesn’t account entirely for their inability to gain exposure to a wider audience. Anyone familiar with the output of Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound label will already know a little bit about the band however, and much of its best output has been released on that label. Although this is ultimately a Sony release, Sherwood is once again on hand to assist with production. 

Best bits on Spaced Dolls include: ‘Cosmos>Chaos’, ‘Basspace’, ‘As The Wind Blows’, and ‘Back From The Black Hole’. 

Check out the tasty looking buds on the CD inlay. “… special thanks to Tha Blue Herb” … indeed.