some semi old reviews i never posted, but hey, its not as if there's too
much of this sort of thing around at the moment.
dettinger/intershop/kompakt/cd
pleasant almost ambient listening with splashy unobtrusive drums and gently
pulsating rhythms, apart from one track which goes a bit obviously hip hoppy
and so stands out from its less frisky surroundings. features extensive use
of todays latest undulating crackling effects, although not in an obvious in
your face manner.
michael fakesch/marion/mas/cd
surprisingly good for what looks to be an odds and ends compilation w/ some
new and unreleased bits tacked on. great thumping beats all over the place
rightfully imo, take precedence over the all too common sounding twinkling
furniture melodies. best when its broken down hip hop beats, usually just
slightly off but still groovey, or stuttering almost drill n basscapades.
'jazdrive' an aggressive, almost beats only jazz (surprise) workout adds a
bit of width to the ground covered.
two lone swordsmen/a virus with shoes/warp/cd
nice, tho in common w/ other tls (long) singles, a tad inconsequential as a
lot of these tracks seem like sketches that start out but don't really
develop. first track is strangely reminiscent of 'hairballs' era stock,
hausen and walkman, and there is a down beat, trip hoppy feel throughout, w/
the odd silly sample breaking through. i found it fairly entertaining tho,
brief and w/ quite a few tracks, so the fact that some of them don't really
go very far doesn't get too irritating.
isan/beautronics/tugboat/cd
isan/salamander/morr music/cd
i can't help but think about genre inbreeding when i hear these. i once saw
a tv documentary about genetics that featured a cat owner who had bred a cat
with a flat face, and therefore no nose, so that its tear ducts had to be
dabbed w/ a cotton bud. so why do these cds remind me of a flat faced cat?
imagine something like boards of canada w/ the hip hop like beats,
distinctive sampling and all the bass, removed. and what you are left with
could admittedly be cute in a strange way, but has about as much substance
as an x-ray of a jellyfish. so mostly down tempo, clicky, cute slightly
proggy twinkly melodies and an odd wooziness. apart from that it's kind of
hard to see what the point is.
elph/zwölf (20' to 2000, december)/raster noton/cd
one long twenty minute track, which succeeds with an emotional tug despite
being highly experimental and strange. a growing, industrial groan is
overlaid with odd chirrups and sine noises and various tweaked vocals of the
word "zwölf", some sinister others coming out a sounding a bit amusing,
which is a nice contrast. about half way through a pulsating but subdued, lo
fi rhythmn is introduced and further on a murky yet rousing chorus of "knees
up, mother brown" plays out to the finish. should likely appeal to anyone
who enjoyed v/vm's "stranger" and "caretaker" releases.
-martin
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