Soundscape is a collaboration between keyboardist Mick Talbot (
Lambrettas,
Style Council) and producer/DJ
Chris Bangs (
Paul Weller). Intended to be an acid-jazz exploration,
Soundscape never quite gets off the ground. Perhaps that shouldn't be surprising, given Talbot's jazz chops always leaned toward psuedo-sophisticated cocktail jazz.
Bangs does his best to give the music some dance-club credibility, but he isn't quite adventerous enough to save Talbot from sinking into meandering lite jazz. And that means
Life Force simply hovers between acid-jazz and smooth mainstream jazz, without knowing where to go. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine