The Search Engine
2012 studio album by DJ Food
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The Search Engine is a studio album by DJ Food, a project of Kevin Foakes who is also known as Strictly Kev. It was released on 23 January 2012 through Ninja Tune.[1] It received generally favorable reviews from critics.[2]
| The Search Engine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 23 January 2012 | |||
| Length | 55:24 | |||
| Label | Ninja Tune | |||
| DJ Food chronology | ||||
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Background
DJ Food originally started as a collaborative project between the Coldcut duo Matt Black and Jonathan More.[3] They were subsequently joined by Kevin Foakes (also known as Strictly Kev) and Patrick Carpenter (also known as PC).[3] Black, More, and Carpenter left the project, and Foakes became a sole member of the project.[3]
The Search Engine is DJ Food's first studio album since Kaleidoscope (2000).[4] It includes tracks from three previously released EPs: One Man's Weird Is Another Man's World (2009), The Shape of Things That Hum (2009), and Magpies, Maps and Moons (2011).[5] It features guest appearances from The The vocalist Matt Johnson (on a cover version of The The's song "Giant") and Foetus' JG Thirlwell (on "Prey").[4]
The album's cover art is an illustration by the comic book artist Henry Flint.[6] Kevin Foakes asked him to draw "a cosmonaut, hanging in space, strapped into an unfeasibly large backpack, the kind you could only wear in zero gravity."[6]
A limited edition of the album comes with a comic-sized booklet, a CD, and a 7-inch flexi-disc.[4]
Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 69/100[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [7] |
| Clash | 5/10[8] |
| MusicOMH |  [9] |
| PopMatters | 6/10[10] |
| Record Collector | [11] |
| The Skinny | [12] |
| Spin | 4/10[13] |
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, The Search Engine received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 69 out of 100 from 7 critic scores.[2]
John Bergstrom of PopMatters stated, "Though the interludes have been added to help smooth things out, the album still comes across as a hodgepodge, albeit a pretty good one."[10] He added, "If you have enjoyed previous DJ Food or Ninja Tune releases, The Search Engine has plenty of elements that will sound comfortingly familiar, if not exactly fresh at this stage."[10] Alan Ranta of Exclaim! commented that "The style is mature, intensely smoky and cinematic, recalling trip-hop, gamelan, vintage propaganda, film noir, sci-fi and stag films."[5] Phil Freeman of AllMusic stated, "Surprising as it may be, coming from masters of the quick-cut DJ collage, The Search Engine is a journey worth taking from beginning to end, uninterrupted."[7] Meanwhile, Will Salmon of Clash called it "a tired, conservative and weirdly insular album."[8]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "All Covered in Darkness Pt. 1" |
| 4:23 |
| 2. | "Giant" (featuring Matt Johnson) | M. Johnson | 8:30 |
| 3. | "Intermission: A New Language" | P. Carpenter | 0:59 |
| 4. | "The Illectrik Hoax" (featuring Natural Self) |
| 3:42 |
| 5. | "Sentinel (Shadow Guard)" (featuring DK) |
| 3:26 |
| 6. | "Prey" (featuring JG Thirlwell) |
| 4:04 |
| 7. | "In Orbit Every Monday" | K. Foakes | 2:57 |
| 8. | "Outermission: Sheer Fiction" | K. Foakes | 0:52 |
| 9. | "Percussion Map Pt. 1" | K. Foakes | 3:18 |
| 10. | "Magpie Music" (featuring 2econd Class Citizen) |
| 11:18 |
| 11. | "A Trick of the Ear" | K. Foakes | 9:02 |
| 12. | "Colours Beyond Colours" | K. Foakes | 2:53 |
| Total length: | 55:24 | ||
Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes.[14]
- Strictly Kev – music, mixing (7, 10)
- Dr Rubberfunk – drums (1)
- Jeff Knowler – remixing (1, 4), mixing (2, 5, 6, 9, 10), slide guitar (2)
- Mike Pelanconi – remixing (1, 4)
- Matt Johnson – guest appearance (2)
- Mr. P – remixing (3)
- Natural Self – guest appearance (4)
- DK – guest appearance (5)
- King Cannibal – mixing (5)
- JG Thirlwell – guest appearance (6)
- 2econd Class Citizen – guest appearance (10), mixing (10)
- Bundy K. Brown – mixing (11)
- Jon Reynolds – mixing (12)
- Kevin Metcalfe – mastering
- Openmind – design
- Henry Flint – illustration
- Will Cooper-Mitchell – photography