IDM Mailing Archive

Hi all, some quicky reviews of stuff I bought last week. Not all are new releases. This is mixed idm and ambient content, so feel free to disregard things depending on whichever list you're on :) Autechre: Chiastic Slide & Envane very good, but neither of them has blown me away yet. but I know it's way too early to judge an ae record after only a couple listens. I'm not sure whether they'll come close to tri repetae, though, one of my all-time fav albums. One that DID blow me away, however, is: Autechre: Anti EP so glad I came across this brilliant 3-tracker from 1994 which I hadn't heard of until I got blech2. Djarum is one epic track. Definitely my favorite autechre EP. Plaid EP (clear) here's another older one. Also really glad I found this. 4 tracks, A1 and B1 are good, A2 is simply beautiful and B2 sounds like it's straight from Bytes. µ-ziq: Urmur bile trax 1&2 (ASW) this has been reviewed to quite some extent. Mike P on the jungle tip for the most part, but still very much sounding like µ-ziq, and I love it. I really enjoyed Das Ist ein Groovy... and Shaped to make... and I loved Makesaracket, but another one of those funked out releases might have become boring. Good to hear some µ-ziq again. Beaumont Hannant: basic data manipulation (GPR) Old one again, from '93. IMO, even better than Texturology, which is already a great album. I wish I would've been an IDMer already in 1993... this is timeless IDM. Jacob's Optical Stairway: same (R&S) This one I rented from a CD rental place and didn't even burn it on CDR. Hell, I didn't even *tape* it. d&b on the jazzier side that could have come out 1/2 years earlier. Very unimaginative, not to say dull. Mind the Gap - ultimate breaks&beats vol 2 (Gap/Groove Attack) Great comp from my hometown cologne. Best breaks-oriented compilation I've seen in a long time, ranging from chilled slower breaks to the dark no-U-turn-stylee: exactly the opposite of the weak d&b noodling of albums like the above. Just two of the 11 great tracks make the purchase worthwile: Fuckdub by Tosca (Dorfmeister/Huber) and the brilliant That was no Martian by Airgoose - wow. Red Snapper: Prince Blimey (Warp) Very good. For the most part not as relaxed as Reeled and Skinned, but if you liked that one (I love it), you'll also like this one since Red Snapper haven't really changed their style at all but have kept up the quality. 12 cool tracks that I find great to listen to in the afternoon. Bjork: Telegram Disappointing. None of the remixes go anywhere, with the exception maybe of the Dobie rmx of I miss you and the Deodato rmx of Isobel. Both are artists I've never heard of. LFO remix is really lame. Fila Brazillia: Black Market Gardening (Pork) I love it. Beautiful album. Sorry, don't know what else to say. Get it get it get it. The ultimate soundtrack for late breakfasts and rainy summer nights. I.F. 2 (Fax PS 08/56) I couldn't believe my eyes when I stumbled across this at my fav record store a-musik (word to fellow german listers: when in cologne, go there) right in the middle of the fax section at regular new-release price. Now I can't believe my ears. Dr. Atmo & Deep Space Network with 4 tracks of epic proportions. If you like your fax a bit heavier on the beats and find this CD (it's from 1994 though...), by all means get it. If you liked the hypnotic beats of Fanger&Siebert, wait till you hear "intergalactic funk". Oh wow. I can't stop listening to this. Move D / Namlook: Exploring the Psychedelic landscape (Fax PK 08/121) Best fax release since elektro, IMO. Quite some chunky beats with minimal rhythms. It grooves along while staying in the background. Again, well worth checking out for faxers on the idm tip. Datacide: Flowerhead (Asphodel) glad that asphodel rereleased this. After having heard Atom Heart playing live the other day, this is quite different: very chilled, not as much crazy drum programming, all in all quite lush. that's all. Off to go windsurfing, talk to you in 3 weeks when I'll be back just in time for autechre to come into town :) cheers, --tom

On 28-Feb-97 Tom Tonger wrote:

quoted 4 lines Bjork: Telegram

>Bjork: Telegram >Disappointing. None of the remixes go anywhere, with the exception maybe of >the Dobie rmx of I miss you and the Deodato rmx of Isobel. Both are artists >I've never heard of. LFO remix is really lame.

Total disagreement. I think that LFO mix is unbelievable. Sends shivers down my spine. The rest of the CD is excellent, except for that Deodato mix - bleh. Overall, I highly recommend Telegram. Jon Drukman jsd@gamespot.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- System Administrator SpotMedia Communications

On Fri, 28 Feb 1997, Jon Drukman wrote:

quoted 12 lines On 28-Feb-97 Tom Tonger wrote:

> > On 28-Feb-97 Tom Tonger wrote: > >Bjork: Telegram > >Disappointing. None of the remixes go anywhere, with the exception maybe of > >the Dobie rmx of I miss you and the Deodato rmx of Isobel. Both are artists > >I've never heard of. LFO remix is really lame. > > Total disagreement. I think that LFO mix is unbelievable. Sends shivers down > my spine. The rest of the CD is excellent, except for that Deodato mix - bleh. > Overall, I highly recommend Telegram. > > Jon Drukman

Sorry, but gotta agree with Mr. Tonger here. I don't own the disc personally (thank god) but the radio station does, and it sounds less than fulfilling. For new music, some of it is alright, but with names like LFO, Graham Massey, and Dilinja remixing it should stand out as a necessary to any collection. Unfortunately it does not. Yes, it does have its moments, but they are few and far between when compared to the likes of "Debut" and "Post". Anyway, different strokes for different folks -- how did ya'll like the tracks "Charlotte" and "I Go Humble"? Just compare the new disc to those songs and see what I mean when I summarize it as substandard. J

yesterday, out of his mind:), Tom wrote: Jacob's Optical Stairway: same (R&S) This one I rented from a CD rental place and didn't even burn it on CDR. Hell, I didn't even *tape* it. d&b on the jazzier side that could have come out 1/2 years earlier. Very unimaginative, not to say dull. You may think about renting this one again. Unimaginative? Dull? You might be confusing those words with minimal and melodic, things you do not often hear in d&b. This disc is one of my favorite d&b releases becuase it does such a good job at being a jazz/d&b hybrid. It's peaceful, atmospheric, at times psychadelic and always pure in terms of an honest chilled out d&b vibe. This disk to me IS ambient d&b. I play it every few weeks and it only gets better. I guess when you compare it to the rest of Mark/Degos stuff you realize how cool the disk is-those guys know there stuff. Also, the breaks are never mad, yet very intricate-I have never heard drum programming like on this disc. Finally, I hope you don't think this just came out, because it's been out for over a year, so if it had come out 1-2 years earlier, it would have been more before it's time than it already is. This disk is a good break from the stupid vogue hardcore stuff as of late... my .02 Nate Harrison Digital Magician Inc. www.digimagician.com nate@digimagician.com

Speaking of 4 Hero, do those guys have anything out recently or soon? -- Chris

On Mon, 3 Mar 1997, PhilE wrote:

quoted 9 lines Christopher Klausmeier <klaus@biosci.cbs.umn.edu> wrote:

> Christopher Klausmeier <klaus@biosci.cbs.umn.edu> wrote: > > Speaking of 4 Hero, do those guys have anything out recently or soon? > > I haven't heard anything since the Tek 9 album & the Deepest Shade of > Techno 2, which they compiled. There was supposed to be a new 4-hero > album and a Tom & Jerry album last year, haven't heard any more since > tho... > > Phil

There was a new Tek9 single - Is It On?, relased a few months back. A great mix by Carl Craig, decent ones by Endemic Void and Nightmares On Wax and others, and a new Tek9 track. There's a track on Breakbeat Science, don't know if it's old or new. You're right though, Mark & Dego have been awfully quiet. Che

MAY 2nd 4 Hero - Two Pages 2xCD [special advance release with 2 Japan-only bonus tracks] (Japan) Anybody know what the bonus tracks are, and when the UK version will be out? Judging by "Loveless" and "Planeteria" this should be the bomb. C. -- Chris.Hilker (cspot@hyperreal.org) "Never really been too happy, never really been too sad And he doesn't know what he wanted, and he doesn't know what he had"