Rating:
Genre:
Electronica
Release Date: 04/08/2003
With production by
Groove Armada's
Andy Cato, the full-length debut by
Caia is a warm record of housey keys and
dub reggae textures, with a set of beats closer to
hip-hop or languid
downbeat. In that, it's not far off from the work of
Groove Armada, though
The Magic Dragon focuses more on tracks (the repetition of a few ideas) than songs, and so fits perfectly on its label of release (the dance-oriented
Guidance). Most of these are ripe for the plucking by nearly any of the hundreds of chill-out mix albums being released; though the music sticks to tried-and-true patterns of non-dancefloor dance music (and sounds a bit anonymous for it),
"The Rose Room" has a series of morphing effects that are half-
dub and half-
acid house, while
"Summer Lightning" has a delicious bridge featuring wood drums.
~John Bush, All Music Guide