''23am'' is the second studio album by composer

Robert Miles Roberto Concina (3 November 1969 – 9 May 2017), known professionally as Robert Miles, was an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ. His 1995 composition "Children (composition), Children" sold more than 5 million copies and topp ...

, released in late 1997 via Deconstruction and Arista labels.

Background and recording

The composition of ''23am'' began from the '' Dreamland'' tour, during which Miles collected audio samples from virtually every city visited. Aside from being based on his experiences of these travels (in the

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

Miles emphasizes the influence seeing in person so many problems that society has brought onto itself had),Miles, Robert (1997). In ''23am''

D liner notes D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''dee'' (pronounced ), plural ''dees''. History The ...

Deconstruction Ltd. Miles has also said that the album reflects the human life cycle from birth to death. ''23am'' also contains four vocal songs, a ratio of vocals to instrumentals that is almost equal to that of ''Dreamland''. They seem to have been less an afterthought for this album, though, and were written in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

and then translated into English. Two tracks on the album, including its first single "Freedom", feature vocals by

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

icon

Kathy Sledge Kathy Sledge (born January 6, 1959) is an American singer–songwriter and producer. Sledge is best known as the youngest and founding member of Sister Sledge, an American vocal group which is made up of her sisters that formed in 1971. After ach ...

of the chart-topping group

Sister Sledge Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. ...

. The structures and instrumental arrangements on ''23am'' are more complex than those on the earlier '' Dreamland'', involving real instruments such as the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

as an addition to the

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s. The music is also much less

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

-driven; the main sections of a number of the vocal-based songs are structured like

pop songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

, while the segueing interludes between songs are generally structureless, with no beats at all. Ultimately it can be said that ''23am'' is more artistic and less

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

-oriented than its predecessor, ''Dreamland''. At the same time, however, ''23am'' was less successful than ''Dreamland''.

Track listing

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1997 albums Robert Miles albums Arista Records albums