T.D.F. (Eric Clapton & Simon Climie) - Retail Therapy (1997)

Retail Therapy is a misguided, occasionally intriguing, venture into ambient, contemporary instrumental and even drum'n'bass territory by T.D.F., a side project for Eric Clapton and keyboardist Simon Climie. Both musicians sound as if they decided on the concept of the album before actually listening to any electronica, which gives Retail Therapy a weird, canned atmosphere. They also didn't sit down to write full-fledged compositions; they jammed, recording whatever came to their minds -- which means, of course, that the record is ambling where it should be provocative and meandering where it should be hypnotic. When the duo strays from atmospherics and works with the buzzing rhythms of drum'n'bass, they are more effective, but Retail Therapy remains a bland, colorless dead alley into electronic music from two musicians who don't comprehend its essence.