Performer Notes

Groove Armada: Tom Findlay, Andy Cato.
Additional personnel: Gram'ma Funk, M.A.D., Sophie Barker (vocals); Keeling Lee (guitar); Dominic Betmead (scratches).
The Kick Horns: Simon C. Clarke (flute, alto & baritone saxophones); Tim Sanders (tenor saxophone); Roddy Lorimer (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Personnel: Sophie Barker, M.A.D. (vocals); Keeling Lee (guitar); Tim Sanders (tenor saxophone); Roddy Lorimer (trumpet, flugelhorn); The Kick Horns (horns); Dominic Betmead (scratches).
Audio Mixer: Simon Thornton.
Photographer: Mario Godlewski.
Like U.K. contemporaries Faze Action, Groove Armada combines a love for classic disco, funk, and hip-hop with accomplished musicianship. Andy Cato and Tom Findlay supplement their breakbeats, samples, and occasional raps and vocals with bass and trombone. Unusually for a member of a dance music outfit, Yorkshireman Cato played in a brass band as a teenager before becoming a successful jazz musician.
VERTIGO has a distinctly "Balearic" quality-eclectically influenced and representing styles from ambient house through hip-hop, disco, and house. "I See You Baby" is fun, exuberant disco, while "Pre 63" is moody, loping funk with some great flute and trumpet playing. The hit single "At the River" is a sumptuous chill-out, its ethereal vocal refrain and washes of brass treating you to an Ibiza sunset. "If Everybody Looked the Same" is an irresistible slice of breakbeat house that, alongside Basement Jaxx, serves to remind that interesting things can still be done with house music. VERTIGO deserves the critical acclaim it has received. The album is varied and sophisticated enough to satisfy even the most discerning of dancefloor dilettantes.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (3/16/00, p.73) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...funky hip-hop chills with live, jazzy orchestral romps, and deep house beats team with Sly Stone funk....[They] triumph less by massive groove attacks and more by laid back seduction."

Entertainment Weekly (3/10/00, p.71) - "Dub, acid jazz, house, big beat, down-tempo: Groove Armada cram VERTIGO with something for everyone..." - Rating: B+

Alternative Press (4/00, p.70) - 4 out of 5 - "...fulfills the potential heard on the group's early material....bringing the sample-oriented downtempo/acid jazz and unites it with its mates in '60s soul and hip hop....VERTIGO will make your head spin."

Muzik (1/00, p.70) - Ranked #18 in Muzik's "Albums Of The Year '99" - "...Warm and glorious...as soothing as a swim in the Med. A blissed-out collection of sun-kissed beats and cinematic set-pieces..."

CMJ (2/28/00, p.23) - "...enforces the funk in all of its different forms, embracing it in both tranquil, downtempo jams...and ass-shaking, party-people anthems....proves [them] to be a unique and ear-catching outfit that's destined to rule the airwaves, as well as dancefloors..."

Album: Vertigo
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Chicago	More Info...
2)	Whatever, Whenever	More Info...
3)	Dusk You & Me	More Info...
4)	Pre 63	More Info...
5)	If Everybody Looked The Same	More Info...
6)	Serve Chilled	More Info...
7)	I See You Baby	More Info...
8)	A Private Interlude	More Info...
9)	At The River	More Info...
10)	In My Bones	More Info...
11)	Your Song	More Info...
12)	Inside My Mind (Blue Skies)	More Info...
13)	I See You Baby (Fatboy Slim Mix)	More Info...

Album: Vertigo
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Chicago	More Info...
2)	Whatever, Whenever	More Info...
3)	Dusk You & Me	More Info...
4)	Pre 63	More Info...
5)	If Everybody Looked The Same	More Info...
6)	Serve Chilled	More Info...
7)	I See You Baby	More Info...
8)	A Private Interlude	More Info...
9)	At The River	More Info...
10)	In My Bones	More Info...
11)	Your Song	More Info...
12)	Inside My Mind (Blue Skies)	More Info...
13)	I See You Baby (Fatboy Slim Mix)	More Info...