Assembled 001/002 . Florence/Wladimir M . [eevo CD5]
EEVO CD5
Florence & Wladimir M - Assembled (001/002)
Planet 95
Exploration (Mystical Mix)
Goin' South
The Vineyard (Peter Ford Remix)
A Touch Of Heaven
Reasonable Doubt
The Vineyard
Evil
The Vineyard Reprise
More Evil, Less Evil
'Words and the Muse and Music' by Mushmouth
The music stops abruptly and the beep and click of a sequencer
punctuates a Dutch conversation. Inside my head I play out an
imagined nervous introduction to Wladimir M. and Stefan Robbers.
I would stand up and in deadpan consign, "Hi...my name is Mush and
I'm an EevoEnthusiast." Hopefully I could bury my awe in a facade
of humor without sacrificing the sincerity of such a statement. How
could I be so 'star' struck!! I hear the complaints coming already.
Quite simply, gross adoration and reverence of talent are polar.
Case closed.
These cats have got the magic....you better pray!
In the guise of Florence, Stefan Robbers allows himself to be pulled by
the natural kinetic diversity which comes from being a Dutch
Electronic Audio Frontiers-person. [ahem] Here on Assembled, the
complete spectrum of electronic musical expression coalesce in full
stride alongside the poetic mind of Wladimir M.
//Planet 95// exemplifies this "fusion" as it's funky rolling hollow
snare attacks and commandingly sexy sucks on the synths wrap around
Wlad's planetary stream of conscience. "Love is losing ground...
You'll bring the body...and I'll bring the beat." The unmistakable
combination of humor and sincerity illuminate the admirable maturity
of these artists. ;-) Later on, that cosmic combination resurfaces in
//Evil// a trumping kick drummed number with freaky organ stabs and
strings, mini breaks of mondo muzique style techno funk, and Wlad,
stroking your conscious and awakening your human sensibility through
words of wisdom.
As compelling as Wlad can be with words, Stefan measures up huge
with the insatiably beautiful 'solo' epics //A touch of heaven// and
//The Vineyard.// The latter spreads itself out before your world
weary mind and floors your imagination accelerator as you race into
"enchantment." Florence manifests memorable melodic movements
and ever so competent ensembles of percussion, stereo tom toms, and
up front dreamy female vocals. Oh man, it's love at first 'hear' and
I'm drunk on the goose bump elixir again.
And what more can be said about //A touch of heaven//? (I know
that's a cop out,) so, aside from the fact that it will be the highlight of
any Eevo Virgins first listen, or how, to the ear of the seasoned
collector, it will never sound more 'at home' as it does right here.
Angelic electronics with a bassline as human as a heartbeat. At one
time I even referred to it as MY 'strings of life.' No disrespect
intended, I just heard Florence first. Which brings to mind that this is
not just a compendium of previously released Eevo Works, here on
Assembled, unretouched classics brush up against this years model, or
more succinctly put, "the remixes".
Progressive minded //Peter Ford// takes a trip into //The Vineyard//
and lanks out an almost Chicago flavor finger snapping swing at samba
pace. An outstanding and challenging remix but it's still playing the
understudyfor the lead. //Exploration (mystical mix)// takes off racing
down some Detroit side street on a collision course with the old FUSE
plus 8 mentality (both in town for a visit of course)...quick rhythmical
elements (snares and cymbals baby) and mightily syncopated kicks
bump along with bossy vocoder fills, soaring tops and gritty acidic
middles.
And if that's not evidence enough that Florence sets THE production
standards, we close out the disc with a techno v. drum & bass hybrid
//More evil less evil.// Here, Tourette's analog blitzzbeats and face
flattening bass create a knee slapping rhythm given Eevo depth by
darting acid stabs and snips of the organ. The inevitable eeried out
timestretched Wlad Vocal "and I'm growing ooooooold . . . no one
seems to thiiiiiink" completes one of the most authentic "d&b vs T"
crossovers.
In closing, quite simply put, if you take your IDM seriously, get your
ears inside this disc. There *really* is something here for everyone
and as well something here for that someone who already has
everything. As trite and clichi as it sounds...there's truly something
special about Eevo CD5.
"Eevo Lute...where they don't make techno...they create Muzique"
Mister Miracle