Various-Out There A Thread Through Time
4LP/2CD
Pi Recordings 002/T & B Vinyl 001
Zoviet:France-'Synasthetica'/Horizon 222-'Walking on the Air'/
Coil v. The Eskalator-'Nasa Arab'/Freespace Comm.-'Inter'/0-'Atomit'/
The Lords of Afford-'Circular Sore'/Chris & Cosey-'Dancing Ghosts'/Black
Dog-'Bumfluff'/Secret Agent # 1-'Festivities'/Karen X-'She Is'/The Lords
of Afford-'Circular Soar'/0-'Eetteri'/Freespace Comm.-'Epic'/Kookie-'A
Memorable Fancy'/Re:Search-'How To Avoid the Self Destruct
Mechanism'/Twitch & Brainstorm-'101 Beats in Sodom'/Unit Moebius-'Panta
Rhei'/Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia-'Dust(Original)'/Abraxas-'Hannibal
Kantori'pt. 1 & 'Swine Asphyxiator'pt. 2/G.T.O.-'Take It Easy'
Quite a lineup, is it not? This was actually a surprise for me to even
come across because I saw it in the Sister Ray catalog as a 4LP comp. and
I am a sucker for those! I was lucky enough to work out a trade, and
avoid a major pinch in my wallet.
This compilation(based on the artwork, both inside & outside) is a little
difficult NOT to be taken seriously, but the liner notes say otherwise.
It really is just a 19 track compilation of "minimalist ambient & trance"(I
try not to corner compilations into one category, but that IS about all
it really is) with beautiful artwork. My vinyl copy, which was a trade,
is in minty clean condition(quite scary for a 4LP!), but I would suggest
getting the 2CD of this, though.
'synasthetica' mainly is very hush hush ambient, namlook-like, the usual
from zoviet:france. 'walking on the air' or I should say 'warking on zee
airr'is a real breezy trance track. 'Nasa Arab' is really cool though, and
not what I expected from Coil. I am still hooked on 'the snow', but I
guess we all must move out of the 80's someday, eh? 0 contributes 2
tracks, 'atomit'-which is a short little ambient track, and
'eetteri' which reminds me of early Kraftwerk sonic experiments. Before
I could really get tranced out with 'atomit', IT WAS OVER! Soozzz.
Andrew Weatherall makes an appearance as The Lords of Afford. 'Circular
Soar(Sore)' are 2 mixes of the same track. It doesn't have his trademark
dub sound, but again, refers back to 70's style Kraftwerk. The track
that "woke" me up was 'Dancing Ghosts'. Chris & Cosey do what the sleeve
notes call the "first acid track", and in excellent fashion. It's sort
of a Seefeel meets Model 500 type sound, with familiar 808 sounds, and
subtle use of the 303. This track was remastered just for this comp.,
and is available on their 1983 recording ELEMENTAL 7.
The Black Dog also lend a hand with 'Bumfluff', a live recording, and
nothing like anything they've done before. It's impossible to tell if
this track is them or not. Maybe because it was recorded live? I doubt
it. 'Festivities' is a nice happy sounding trance cut, but suddenly the
darkness rolls in near the middle, and ends on a low note. 'She Is'
sounds like a young Bjork track, and the lyrics(to me) make absolutely no
sense at all. It's also the only "vocal" track on the album. Too good.
'epic' has that dark MEGALON sound to it, and works o.k. for one of my
sets, but 'a memorable fancy' is an unmemorable track that should be
overlooked entirely. I'm sure we've all heard this type of trance in
'92.
'How To Avoid The Self Destruct Mechanism', and '101 Beats in Sodom'
sound more like they were "touched" by Acrid Avid Jamshred(Aphex), with
it's distortion, as well as S.A.W. sounding drum/rhythm programming. It's
eerie & playable, but don't hold your breath for too long to hear it.
'Panta Rhei' is fairly decent, but throughout the entire track, you're
impatiently waiting for that synth to do a breakdown, or go off key for
some reason.
'hannibal kantori'/'swine asphyxiator' is more or less two
tracks(there is a blank space on my vinyl indicating 3 tracks). The 1st
part sounds like some early Jello Biafra(before the caffeine kicked in),
with sounds that are reminescent of early 80's Nettwerk songs(the
canadian industrial label), and the 2nd part, Aphex Twin.
'take it easy' by GTO is quite a departure from their TECHNOHEAD or CHURCH
OF EXTACY releases. It's not really ambient, but chilled out trancey
sounding. The bass is 1st rate. "Take it easy, it'll all be one in the
end..."
But we all should stand still & listen to my absolute favorite of this
compilation, 'dust' from PWOG. This is the track of tracks. Six of the
finest minutes from PWOG, and it is the original version. I especially
like the rattlesnake-like sound in it, too. Makes the track "come alive"
if that's not TOO cliche to say.
Derek Jordan
up next...a review of (hopefully) ALEC EMPIRE-GENERATION STAR WARS &
OVAL-'94 DISKONT