warning: this message contains talk about music only. nothing about
- aphex twin (he's barely musical anyway)
- cover art
- what chicks dig
- the fact that my fridge died and i spent all morning driving around
looking for dry ice suppliers.
these are the musical things in my life this week. i will put real
audio snips of the good tracks on my web site at
http://sticky.bud.com. please check them out before criticizing
anything written here.
LISTEN LOUD AND CONCENTRATE.
- eat static - science of the gods.
number of goofy samples of people talking about aliens and flying
saucers and abductions and implants: 0
number of ethnic vocal loops: 0
percentage of incredibly weird kick ass machine music: 90%
this album is so far into its own space, it's almost impenetrable.
no happy melodies, no cheesy snare rolls (well, maybe one or two,
but i forgive them). just strange grooves and noises. the sounds
of people who really know how to program their synths. the sounds
of people who know how to mix a track so it sounds like a mountain
is falling on your head. a good mix of jungle, downtempo breaks,
and straight ahead four on the floor chugga chugga trance. my
favorite track so far is "kryll" - it has some totally funky breaks
and lush synth whirls. if this album has a failing it's that it's
so out there that it takes multiple close listenings to see the
method to their madness. as usual, patience is rewarded.
- bentley rhythm ace
cartoony breakbeat music, with a sense of humor that doesn't get in
the way of the tunes or the groove. usually so-called "funny" music
either isn't, or is utterly juvenile (cf: that guy i promised i
wouldn't talk about), or is funny at the expense of the music.
let's examine a track like "whoosh": it starts with something that
sounds like an old tv show theme and then cranks into a nice dusty
groove with lots of grunchy noises and a whispery voice saying
"whooosh!". a fat bassline comes in, some synth bleeps, and the
groove slowly starts to mutate. as the bleep line changes to a
melody, the drum track gets some reinforcement, but it's subtle,
unless you're really listening to it, you wouldn't notice exactly
what happened, you'd just feel that the track got indefinably
"heavier". then we break into that tv theme again and the beat
comes back with a weird funk tune sample layered in, we break out to
that alone and then in with a nice timbale solo. this is the way to
sustain interest over several minutes. we're only two minutes in
but already BRA has thrown in more sounds than lesser acts use in
twice the amount of time. suddenly when you think you've got the
whole track figured, it busts into a sorta electro-acidish thing
with lots of synth pings & swirls. it builds and builds and breaks
back with that damn tv show theme again and then into the full on
funk thing, denser than a cheesecake. pure genius. if i have any
complaints its that the album is really long so that listening to it
all in one sitting is rather uncomfortable due to the sheer amount
of information coming at you. that's not much of a complaint tho!
- oil - slight of hand
the first non-FSOL release on fsol's EBV label? anyway you slice
it, leon mar is kicking ass left and right. i can't wait for the
arcon 2 full-length. anyway, as oil, he seems to be into exploring
the downtempo arena, with lots of funk and dub influence. if
squarepusher is jaco pastorius gone jungle, oil is tackhead gone
jungle. or maybe cameo, i dunno. "slight of hand" has some kickass
minneapolis funk drum groove with lots of atmospheric synth washes
and a lead sound that sounds like a heavily sampled & messed with
vocal. then a guitar lick comes in which is half-forward,
half-backward. the previously live-sounding drum groove gets lots
of sampled trickery (beats spinning backwards, filtering, machine
gun rolls). the bass then busts out with a superfly walking line
and some thumb popping, the guitar answering in true funk call and
response fashion. overall the impression is of a live funk band
captured and manipulated by machines. very clever and very
satisfying. you want to pop it in your trunk of funk and drive down
the strip at night with the subs booming. or at least i do.
- download - iii
previously i have raved about this disc, saying its the techno
direction i wished cevin key and the ex-skinny puppy crew had taken
a few years ago. well, better late than never, right? i've given
this the extreme test (lying in bed with the lights out listening to
it cranked) and it passes with flying colors. despite the apparent
simplicity, there is a wealth of subtle detail throughout. the drum
tracks are always going through some sort of morphing processing.
the melodies change and evolve. none of that "loop it for a few
minutes" bullshit here. "sleeping souls" is a great example, starts
off very pretty and uplifting, the pads keep swirling and changing,
percussive elements come in and out, there's a backspin and some
breaks to keep things lively, something that sounds like a highly
processed vocal peeks out from the shadows. halfway through there's
a wheezy distorto break that autechre would die for. notice how
when beats come back they are always slightly different. is that a
guitar at the end or just a very distorted synth?
- clavia nord lead synth
this is one of the new generation of "virtual analog" devices. it
has no analog circuitry in it - all the sounds are generated by
computer models of other analog devices. what's the point, you ask.
well, analog synths are expensive, go out of tune, need lots of care
& feeding, and are generally not as flexible and capable as their
more modern digital brethren. the nord sounds every bit as good as
a real analog synth (you'd have to be pretty sharp to tell the
difference, especially in a mix), and has tons of modern features.
it has a knob for every parameter - and they all transmit MIDI
controllers, so it's a sequencing wet dream. the mod wheel is made
of stone and the pitch bend lever is made of wood. the synth itself
is bright red. aesthetically, this kicks ass. it takes normal
PCMCIA ram cards (convenient!). the envelopes are at least as fast
as the arp 2600 so it's perfect for electro blips. the THWIP factor
is through the roof. it has 12 voices and is four-part
multitimbral. i am in love all over again. first synth that's got
me excited in a looong time. now they have a version 2 model, but
i picked up a used version 1 as everybody seems to be dumping them
for cheap now. see www.clavia.se for details.
--
Jon Drukman jsd@gamespot.com SpotMedia Communications
This calls for a very special blend of psychology and extreme violence.