u-ziq - my little beautiful
play it on 33 and this sounds like a return to form for paradinas. play it
on 45 and it's ten times as good. undoubtedly the best stuff since tango n
vectif, and easily a match for any of those tracks. THIS is the stuff that
he was playing on his live shows supporting aphex twin! all the classic
u-ziq sounds are here, but in hyper-ventilating mode (at least on 45, and
it sounds right at both speeds) - harsh percussion, those 'charming' chords
and JOY OF JOYS he's started using his mid eq sweeps again!! if you were
disappointed by urmur bile (which i though was great, or at least ep 1)
then get this cos it sounds like his old stuff - which is a good thing, right?
jega, bola, intron, hellinterface, funkstorung - mask 200 limited ep
twice the price of regular eps, but then, it's twice as heavy, and twice as
good too! i wouldn't try to guess who wrote what, but if you're into the
gescom, skam, and jega sound, this is the record for you (if you can get it
<grin>) it kicks off with some ultra-broody industrial breaks, with a
synth to kill for hovering over the top. cunchy crunchy crunchy, just how
i like it. track 2 is high on the crunch factor too, but very well
produced, and when colonel abrahms makes an appearance, it all just clicks,
and makes you smile in just the same way as when you first heard 'pocket
calculator'. great use of pitch shifting! then we have a little snatch of
chaotic breakbeat fiddling, and it's over to side two.. the first track is
all too sedate compared to the other side, it sounds like skam's gescom 1
ep but not quite so engaging. i don't want to down it though, it's still a
good track by any stretch of the imagination. track 2 is the one i
couldn't get into too much - it's reminiscent of human league, supposedly
updated for the 90's, but it sounds a little indulgent to me, and it makes
you realise how FUCKING AMAZINGLY TALENTED tanzmusik are (or were?)
sam and valley - 2nd, 3rd, 4th selection
can't stop playing this one! take 3 bored japanese techno-anarchists, put
them in a room with a guitar, a 20 pound drum machine, and one of yamaha's
best home keyboards (with mini keys), and this is what you get. they take
some of your favourite nursery rhymes, make them virtually unintelligible
via japanese accents, with a backing of plink-plonk auto-chords and guitar
power riffs. the killer track is 'josie e posie' which is apparently a
reading of 'georgie porgie' - you get the idea. a quite satisfying
alternative to drugs
underground resistance - ambush
more ur techno funk, and of course, as indispensable as ever. there's
something about ur synth sounds that just defies description - suffice to
say that mad mike has the MAGIC.... dead dead deep, and the brilliant
track titles just keep flowing - check out 'silicon saigon'!!!
azymuth - jazz carnival
i've had the global communication remix of this for a while, and i just
picked up the original 12" from 1979 for 20p from a car boot sale, so i
thought i'd review them both.. the gc remix is deep house tweaked to
sublime perfection, all the elements boil down into a lovely bubbling funky
brew. some very big name djs around the world are hammering this, and the
last jedi knights ep. it's just a shame that on either side of these
tracks, thery are still playing cheesy shit, but i hope the message gets
through eventually. the original is beautiful, and the name fits the track
perfectly, it is a mix of jazz, funk and disco with wild analog synth
riffs, and would sound very fresh if it were dropped in a modern house set.
bbc radiophonic workshop - doctor who - the music
various - space invaded - bbc sci-fi themes
the aphex twin has made his whole career out of ripping these people off.
listen to these tracks, some dating as far back as the early 70s, some long
before, and the influence is so profound it can only make you grin.. pick
of the bunch are the two versions of the dr who theme music, and 'the sea
devils' which is ambient works 2 done in 1971
'space invaded' is a compilation of theme tunes to bbc sci-fi programmes,
some made by bbc radiophonic workshop, some not. the big find here is the
'tomorrow's world' theme tune, which has got to be the original detroit
techno track. also here is the 'k-9 and co' theme tune which is bonkers
synth-led 70's pop, and a cheesy version of the star trek theme tune, which
is perfect if you have hangers on in your club at the end of the night -
they will fuck off quickly if you play this one!
human league - the dignity of labour
i'm not a human league fan but these 4 instrumental tracks done in 1979 are
stunning. on first listen they might sound a little cheap but they are
really really good and still sound cutting edge.
bochum welt - desktop robotics
there's more than a hint of human league in bochum welt's tracks, and you
can only respect this guy for sticking to his guns and making a completely
unique style in this scene. all the tracks are beautiful electro poems,
with the romance level on maximum. the last track on the second ep is
truly uplifting. melodically and sonically, Gianluigi Di Costanzo is a
master.
cylob - cylob's latest effort / diof 97
mister jeffs returns with some hard-hitting beats on the latest effort,
smack em up sharp is drexciya on fx overload - club music extraordinaire.
on diof 97 the tone is more subdued, with tom jenkinson's bass guitar
little more than a rumble behind mister jeffs chunky beats. both great
recordssss!
egyptian lover - on the nile
this lp features 'girls' and 'egypt egypt' alongside some otherwise
unavailable rough electro rap cuts. the production has to be heard to
believed, it's as if this guy purposely designed these tracks for dark 90's
techno clubs, they are that up-to-date. of course the aforementioned two
tracks are pretty famous, but on tracks like 'my house on the nile' and
'what is a dj if he can't scratch' the beats are stripped down and synths
reduced to motifs to back up the chatterbox rap, and are classics in their
own right. a couple of promising tracks are ruined by abysmally wanky
guitar solos, but then, this is the 80s!
other purchases of note - mira calix 'llanga', fred wesley and the horny
horns lp
cheerio!
np - trapped (accapella) - colonel abrahms