I'm looking at a picture of Hypnotic I took in June, 2005 near the Art Institute of Chicago on South Michigan Avenue. They are belting their tunes out in 90 degrees heat with their trouser legs rolled up and wet towels on their heads. I bought two of their home-produced CDs on the street for ten dollars that day and played them constantly during my time in the city.
When I got back to the UK I just wanted to share Hypnotic's sound with everyone because it seemed so unique. And then when I saw them on 'Later with Jools Holland' in May, 2009 I was excited for myself and for them. This CD delivered everything I wanted it to, although I was slightly disappointed that the tracks 'Birthday' and 'Frankincense' - which were the ones in their street set that caused me to stop and listen in the first place - weren't included. 'Ballicki Bone' and 'Party Started' go a long way to make up for those omissions, however, and the production values are high on the CD, the re-worked tunes buff in their ensemble complexities. There are one or two tracks I could've done without - 'Rabbit Hop', maybe, which reminded me of some old style, up-North miners' brass band from the 70s - but you probably don't get everything you like in an original sound, so I'll settle happily for ninety percent.
Postscript: The theme tune to BBC's 'Motherland' sounds very much like Hypnotic, and I was surprised to learn that it wasn't them. But maybe I shouldn't have been surprised.
The product arrived faulty due to long distance shipping in the period of Christmas but the exchange was arranged with maximum professionalism and full understanding of the problem - I didn't even didn't have to send back the product as it would be very costly for me. The new cd was in perfect shape and everything turned out great. Many, many thanks!