My apologies if this has gone out twice... I never saw it show up.
Teep - Ziq-Zaq mixtape (Homebass)
Just when you thought Teep didn't love him anymore, this pops up
to remind you that not so long ago Teep took all of Mike P.'s best tunes
and knitted them into a pair of pants as good as any Mike's made for
HIMSELF! Both Rephlex albums, the On remix, and the _Phi 1700_ single
are well represented and expertly mixed. The selection leans to the
banging side (as it should) and the tongue-in-cheek package suggests the
ideal accessory for a good soak in these sublime beats. Check it out.
Divination - Akasha 2-CD (Subharmonic)
_Akasha_ is one of Bill Laswell's rare synergies. His fearless
dilettantism has left a lot of ambivalent techno-heads in its wake and
his burgeoning catalog proves that talent and experience cannot
substitute for real inspiration. Jungle and ambient are the buzzwords
of the day and it's not too surprising that wild Bill is busily working
them into his vocabularly. Happily, the format of the third Divination
plays to all his collaborators strengths, dismissing preconceptions and
stretching genre boundaries.
Laswell's understated bass paints each of the rhythm disk's
three long tracks in deep, broad, dubby strokes, adding color and
filling out the sound. Anton Fier's precise and muscular drumming kicks
everything neatly into orbit, breaking into intricate stacatto tattoos
miles beyond the reach of any breakboot loop. Hosono and DXT paint the
works up like Ken Kesey's 23rd century starcruiser, slicing ethereal
washes with razor-sharp scratches. The group's virtuousity opens up a
loose, propulsive groove far outside the grasp of any cut & paste
bedroom boffin, seamlessly integrating technologies new and old.
The ambient disk falls squarely in the trendy isolationist camp,
but among the newer practitioners of the style Laswell & company are
virtually peerless. The first track is muddy and dull, but Mick Harris
compensates by proving that SOME of his ambient work suggests more than
a lawn-sprinkler sample looped through a digital delay.
Overall, _Akaska_ is Laswell's most winning electronica to date
and the jewel in the Subharmonic crown. Don't miss it.