this review is biased because i have a general distaste for drum 'n' bass in
idm and drum 'n' bass in general. this record falls into a category that i
tend to avoid. i'll conduct this review in a comparative manner, using kid
606's _down_with_the_scene_ as a secondary means to explain datach'i's
album.
i wasn't even sure what/who datach'i was when i picked up
_we_are_always_well_. i had only skimmed over a profile of him, and all i
picked up is that his music is related to idm or is in fact idm. i was
happy to see a release as such available at my local record store, so i
lunged for it without much hesitation. however, i wasn't terribly happy to
find out that it ran along the same lines as _down_with_the_scene_, an album
that i had purchased a month or two earlier and have yet to be impressed
with. but after a full listen, i can say that i really like this datach'i
record.
i think it towers over 606 in that it has set limits. IMO, 606 tends to
write songs that are experimental, but aren't thought out (aren't thought
out in a bad way, in a bizkitesque way). and he (606) gets praised simply
for being difficult. i find that this uncarefully presented youthful
spasticity is the reason people like his work; it is the reason i dislike
the bulk of his work.
and what i mean about datach'i setting limits in his music is that he rocks
this punk shit attitude (the whole "fuck you and your eardrums" approach)
without getting on your nerves as does an irritable roommate. datach'i
makes visible decisions on this record that 606's stuff lacks.
largely due to this stability, _we_are_always_well_ is good to the last
drop. the unexpectedness comes enthralling rather than as a rabid dog
biting your ass and biting it harder if you don't like it.
one other point i'd like to make about the album is its dependency on drum
'n' bass to make it fully fleshed. IMO, drum 'n' bass is somewhat of a
contagious electronic rash, itching its way through seemingly every genre of
dance music (even hip-hop). and every time a genre gets infected with the
rash, it becomes more trendy and thus loses value. i've never once noticed
an artist become a better musician by experimenting with jungle breaks or
spastic d+b cadences. a problem with this is that drum 'n' bass/jungle can
no longer stand its ground as a single idea. very few artists coming out
now consider themselves "drum 'n' bass," and if they do, they're usually
shit.
but with datach'i's album, one tends to overlook these biases. true, the
release is more or less and experimental drum 'n' bass album. but it is
implied in such a way that keeps the record valuable. it's never too silly,
never too predictable, never too unoriginal.
one thing that discourages me about idm is that so many artists bring d+b to
the table, but so few bring honest plain breakbeat type stuff. this is
something that datach'i comes close to doing on a few tracks. he threw away
most of the d+b elements and kept it down to good ol' 110-bpm experimental
breaks (again, on just a few tracks). i'll give him props for that. i'd
say this album is the best example of d+b fusion i've heard in quite a while
(and that's sayin' a lot, cuz there's simply SO much music coming out these
days that hints on d+b).
(no conclusion, i'll leave you hangin' on this one)
please write harsh responses
will simmons
Cipolin Structure Radio
http://www.geocities.com/cipolinstructure/
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