Phew. This album is a beast. Hive really went all in and you can hear it in every song. You can detect the hint of a thought process in each track but the genius is that the flow still leaves you guessing. Ultrasonic Sound was put out in 1998 (!!!) and still sounds fresh to me. Gives this album a listen if you want some new afterhours stuff, if you need to pretend you’re a spy, or if you just wanna hear some dope music.
Firstly – that sampling. These tracks all have seemingly random soundbites from all over but they’re perfectly chosen and perfectly placed. They can make you laugh or pull you in as they blend with the rest of the track or scare the hell out of you when you realize how creepy they actually sound. The way these tracks are mixed just gives them so much power. Ultrasonic Sound only has seven tracks and all of them feel 3-D.
The first song on this album, Ultrasonic Sound, originally grew in popularity after people heard it on the Matrix soundtrack. Although it can sometimes be dangerous to link music to other media and ignore that it exists on its own, grouping that first track with the Matrix is a perfect way to understand it. These tracks give you that feeling of anticipation and confusion, and the film really is a great depiction of the sound. That being said, this music easily creates a complete experience on its own. You can hear all of the elements in each track yet Hive has managed to create a balance and flow, in addition to evoking a response. Ultrasonic Sound is just a great album. It’s cool and weird and gets you in your head. Futuristic 90’s trippy hip-hop. Pretty Cool.
xoxo
your trusty music librarian