On Monday, I received a tape thru the post from "Heatsink", who's on the
list, as part of a swapsie we were doing ... and in the evening, I listened
to it whilst I was in da music room, up at the top of a ladder, trying to
sort out some more space in my record shelves. (I neeeed to build some
more shelves desperately, the situation is gettin ridiculous ... sooooo
many books, soooo much vinyl ... but i reckon when there are some free
shelves available, and i'm tucked up in bed at night and da house is all
dark & quiet, that the records and the books have a right ol fisticuffs,
bashin each others' lights out, the records sayin "WE should have first
place on Aless's shelves, as we're tall and skinny and she can fit waaay
more of us on da shelves than any of you fat shorties!" and the books
going "yehhh, but we are full of knowledge and worlds of wonder & wisdom to
feed her mind and WE don't scare her little cat with scary soundz like you
lot do!" and then the books go and scratch big nasty grooves in da vinyl,
and the records go and nibble all da corners of the books pages just in
spite!)
Anyways, so there I was, up me ladder, and going up ladders always make me
all dizzzy anyways, then when I heard Heatsinks soundz, I was like "fuckin
ell", twirled my senses right around, almost fell off ... had to come down
off da ladder for safety's sake! and the lads in the house heard the tape
too, and all came upstairs to listen, and were soo focused on listening
they dint even start messin about on the bongos or keyboards or pick up the
bass to jam along with the tracks, as they're usually prone to doing!
and soooo, a little review ... I normally don't like doing a review of
music, (don't mind doing a review of a night tho, dats cool), as I live in
fear of sounding like one of those up-yer-arse NME journo tossers, showin
off all their big words in a flurry of flouncy pseudo-intellectual
claptrap, so I'll just share a few brief impressions.
DEV:NULL & VACUUM
These 2 tracks, which flowed into one another, sounded like a posse of cool
aliens conversing with one another in a "static electricity" language,
amidst a ghostly lunar landscape, dark, eerie, explorations on an alien
planet.
This would stand proud alongside any of Aphex's tracks from his Ambient works.
CIRCUIT 2
Speeding up the tempo here, to this hauntingly beautiful evocative track
with pure tones, which sounded like choirboys voices ringing and echoing
thru the darkness, with fucked up static beats interspering and
interjecting throughout it all ... felt to me, like a kind of "Holiness",
1998 styleee.
ACCEPTANCE
Crushing, resounding soundz echoing through, bouncing off each other whilst
a lush somber melody reverberates in the background.
SAFETY HUB
ohhhh this was one is just utterly, utterly beautiful! A jazzy, trip-hoppy
piece with a tender piano melody trippin thru, whilst a laid back
trip-hoppy rhythm skips and slopes thru ... a perfect soundtrack for
chillin on a blazin summers day, when you're lyin in the long grass,
brimfull of happiness or lying on a Cornish beach at night, gazin up into a
sky just flooded with stars ... blissfully sublime!
Reminded me of the vibe I get from my Return of the Durutti Column album.
BLIND -STICK
Beautiful resounding, ringing vibes meandering over a background of buzz,
bzzz, buzzzzin electronic arpeggios.
INTEGRAL
Here the tempo is stepped right up, to techno,techno,techno but of a jazzy
variation. Snare drums and those Spanish shaker tings (can never remember
wot they're called) drivin up the tempo ... and a thumpin techno beat
pounds thru as the marimbas amble thru on a laid back melody, calming the
techno maelstrom into a chilled space, whilst the buzzzin electro static
beats are still frizzin and frazzlin thru, piercin thru the music with
their sharp jazzed spikes, as the track fades out on a calm of sweeping,
luxurious streched out organ soundz. Absolutely gorgeous!
I have listened to this tape about 4 times since I've got it, listened to
it in the dark with my headphones on to reeeally focus in deeply ... and if
Heatsink's not signed up with anyone alreadys, and if there's any bigwig
Record Label folks a'lurkin on this list, then they should move it, pretty
pronto to investigate his soundz & snap him up sharpish before someone else
gets a'hold of him!
Huuuge respect to HEATSINK!
Aless