After throwing this on again the other night, I realized that I've
never seen a review or mention of this excellent debut on IDM. PhtHalocYaNinE
is some kid from L.A. named Dimitri. The record came out on Joe and Al's
imprint Plug Research about a year ago.. The most immediate comparisons
I'd make are to old Aphex, but without the whole masculin sounds thing goin'
on.. The drums are incredibly wimpy sine wave and white noise based blurps,
conveying that strange funkiness of Kraftwerk that few have seemed to grasp..
There's what could be called a "j*ngle" track, but the beats and the melodies
are so subtle, that it retains that art-synth aesthetic.. One of the things
that makes me smile when hearing this record is that he seems to be the
first person to sample a BUaRP track (either that or we have some pretty
similar programming habits on the TG).. This is one of those records that
stands distinctly outside the realm of techno, in that while Warp, Rephlex,
and co. have gained a reputation as being the indie-rock of techno, this
slab is right up there with the likes of Tortoise in terms of free-form
experimenting..
Also look out for a band called Trans-Am coming soon on Thrill
Jockey.. I've heard a track they did for a comp. called Cognitive Mapping II,
which was basically all distorted drum machine parts.. They've been getting
alot of hype from John McEntire (Bastro, Tortoise, Gastr Del Sol, Sea and Cake)
and he's generally a reliable source..
If you don't already have it, hunt down the Duophonic (Stereolab's
label) Tortoise release.. The b-side is a masterpiece..
I also want to hype the Plug Research 12" comp. that's finally out,
no thanks to me.. It's got a Spatula Freak, O.S.T., R.E.A.L.M.S., and Hodge
cut to boot..
BTW, am I the only one who thought the last two reflective 12"s were
great?
Later,
Jamie