Though both Groove Armada's Tom Findlay and Andy Cato hail from London, the pair choose to kick back to Ambleside in Cumbria when recording. As with a great deal of dance music through the 1990s, though broadly still considered house, the sound of Vertigo takes as much from the jaded, trip-hop of Bristol as it does from the uplifting house of Studio 54. It is this collusion which defines the LP with the vocal of "In My Bones" ruffled by a techno low end while the chugging backbeats of "Chicago" act to set off a delicate Chic-esque guitar. With an ear for spine-tingling samples lending a gentle weight to what would otherwise be innocuous instrumentals, the crumpled breaks of "At The River" perhaps offer the best example of this, and even the more straightforward forays into the genre are enlivened and enriched by broad influences, the pair have created a modern day classic.--Kingsley Marshall
