Wotcha. Hope you all had a good Easter period type thing. Here is what I
spent my rent on...
--
Plaid | Plaid EP | Clear - CLR 409
Being away from my Internet account for a month meant that I had no idea
this was out. I virtually orgasmed then, when I saw it on the shelf of a
local vinyl emporium. The mandatory electro-type track is _Android_ and
very tasty it is too; shifting beats and an eventual gorgeous chord
finale that seems to flow slowly in via Brownian motion. _Yak_ and
_Anything_ are both mischevious, upbeat oddities. Nothing impressive but
full of Black Dog quirkyness and humour. _Angry Dolphin_ is their
Morris-touted jungle track. Yeah, it _is_ good but its a sprawling,
fractured affair; there's no regularity, no tightness. This is good from
an experimental POV but _Angry Dolphin_ seems to lose its way too much.
Having said this, its still a 'kin amazing track; buy this EP now,
godammit.
Aphex Twin | Ventolin/Ventolin Remixes | Warp - WAP 60/60R
More remixes than you can shake a copy of the Q-Chastic 2x7" pack at.
Distorted (and then some), obtuse hip-hop beats seem to be the focus
here. Richard James is as disturbingly innovative as usual and, as
usual, this stuff is like nothing else he has previously done.
Highlights are the constipated, gloopy beats of the _Marazanvose_ remix,
the general inoffensiveness of _The Coppice_ and the distorted, needle-
fucking nightmare that is the _Wheeze mix_. Guest remixing comes from
Luke Vibert with an elastic, hip-hop workout and the mysterious Cylob
remix which is also absolutely ace. The Cylob mix has exactly the same
effect on me as the Mu-Ziq remix of _On_ did, so if Cylob is Mike
Paradinas I will totally fail to be surprised.
Dan Curtin | Dream Not of Today | Peacefrog - PF024
More lush, unique techno from Peacefrog fave Mr. Curtin. You know what
to expect and you won't be disappointed. Heavy on the beats but there is
a definite jazzed-up happy vibe floating along the top of them. Tough
but warm on the rather badly titled _Spliffed_, happy jazz-disco fusions
in _One Evening at Mrs. Applebees_ and optimistic bouncy beatz on _Track
17_. Curtin fans; buy this. Everyone else? Buy it as well.
The Memory Foundation | - | M-plant - M-P303
'Made in Vienna' is the only useful information on the sleeve
(Pulsinger? Maybe...). Lots of 909 beats coupled with filtered, stabbing
chords. There is a vague head-nodding funkiness to the whole thing; very
agreeable indeed although more for the floor than your mind.
Cristian Vogel | Conscious Arrays EP | Force Inc. - FIM 080
The heinously prolific Cristian Vogel turns out some murky metallic
phlanges coupled with some focused beats on _Sister Stream_; _Brother
Stream_ is a stripped down tubular monster version. The other side will
make you wince; a deeestorted bass-line that escaped from Tim
Simenon's studio is shackled to a stomping bass-line and some more
grungy, industrial sounds. At it's slow tempo its perfect aural
medication for gabba freaks who think that nasty bassdrums need to be
fast.
Move D | Eine Kleine Nachtmusik | Fifth Freedom - FIVE-01
Graceful, chilled techno to sway to. Its a brilliant mesh of Hawtin
style hi-hat madness, optimistic techno moods and liquid cooled
melodies. Check out the Move D album _Kunststoff_ on Source for 3 of
these 4 tracks and more; I know I will be. Brilliant stuff.
Carl Craig | Science Fiction | Blanco Y Negro - NEG80T
The fact that this is a *new* Carl Craig release is one reason to own
this release. Expansive warmth, clicky analogue trickery and a Larkin
remix are three more. Not as quirky as some of his earlier Planet-E
stuff, this is faultless, classic Carl Craig material.
V/A | Streetparade EP | Superstition - 08-0322847-20
A top-quality compilation EP from the Energy 94 event in Sweden. Luke
Slater clocks in a spacey, trance-driven ride; faultless, as usual. Rob
Hoods _Aural 721_ is an engaging spiky, stop-start affair. Flip it for a
balls out Mike Ink track that sounds like all his other ones (damn floor-
friendly though) and the nicely titled _M3 of Canes Venetici_ by Dave
Clarke. I've no idea what it means but Clarke nods heavily to Carl Craig
in this one, and it drifts by effortlessly. A varied comp with all the
tracks having the virtue of being exclusive and pretty damn brilliant;
check it out.
Photek | The Water Margin/Fusion | Photek - PTK04
Intelligent jungle from that prolific Rupert bloke. _The Water Margin_
is a track to blow your mind; Photek splices layer and layer of dark
matter-junglism but the beats never intrude or detract. It builds to a
delicious head too; music for your mind _and_ your Vans. _Fusion_ is a
beat-intensive workout, less controlled than _...Margin_ but still a
robust shifter of a track.
St Germain | Boulevard 1/3 | F Communications - F018
Gorgeous fluffy house-meister Ludovic Navarre employs the talents of
some real jazz musicians on this new series of house EPs. _Deep In It_
is marshmallow in musical form; dive in with faultless beats and vocal
respects to Kenny Gonzales and Lil' Louis Vega. _Forget It_ is a slower
piano/vibes house workout; lusher but with less immediacy. _Whats New?_
is the weakest, being a minimal tr*p-hoppy sequence. Its a good EP but I
can't help feeling that Navarre and jazz chums could turn out some
_really_ good stuff; the potential is there, hopefully the next two EPs
will show it.
Palmskin Productions | The Beast - Remix | Mo Wax - MW029R
This ones been out a while but I've only just got my hands on it. The
Reload/GC lads turn in an extremely subtle jungle-type remix as well as
a less inspiring but still damn good hip-hop workout. Roni Size attacks
the jungle-angle (jangle? ;-) more frenetically and forces his S1000 into
giving him semi-automatic gunfire beats. Autechre clean up the resulting
mess with a warm, evolving remix. All in all, an EP of top quality
varied electronica. More remix EPs like this and Mo Wax will be counted
alongside R&S and Warp.
V/A | FNAC - La Collection | FNAC - 591306
Yeah, yeah; I know this is a year or two old now, but I've just managed
to find my own copy instead of wearing out my friend's and I thought it
was a good time to remind you to get yourself one if you don't already.
Top-class house from the French lads that signalled the end of the FNAC
chapter and the beginning of the fab F Communications label. Obvious
brilliance from Ludovic Navarre slides alongside frenetic Euro-techno
from Renegade Legion and Lunatic Asylum. And if that wasn't enough, you
get an exclusive live mix of Choice's _Acid Eiffel_ which is track to
die for, get reincarnated and then die again for; its that good.
Buybuybuybuybuybuybuy...
|| [CiM]
|| u9323899@sys.uea.ac.uk
||
http://www.sys.uea.ac.uk/~u9323899/