IDM Mailing Archive

Here are some quick reviews of some things I bought recently. Some old, some new. Reviews: Burger/ink - las vegas minimalism and melody all in the bc/mike ink/modernist style. Very compelling actually. The CD itself is very cohesive. The perfect CD to lose yourself in. Believe the hype. Susumu Yokota - 1998 (promo - sublime ) I really enjoy Yokota's work (especially Ebi - ten). This release does not disappoint as it is detroit techno, tech-house and down tempo with a Japanese, jazzy, urban flare. Watch for this. club off chaos (self titled) This features a member of can (the drummer I think). To tell you the truth I was disappointed. It shows a lot of promise but in the end it follows to many formulas. The CD does have it moments but they are few and far between. Schneider tm - moist Best way to describe this is strange. Odd noises, bleeps and quirky electronics. Reminds me of mom a little. Has a techno, house and post rock vibe. Good stuff. unit park - trailer park an old release but nice minimal abstract techno. This is Taylor Deupree and Dietrich Schoenemann. Drum Komputer - alphabet flasher idm for all those who claim they don't make idm any more. (taylor deupree side project along with Dietrich Schoenemann). Don't miss out on this. A modern artificial intelligent sound. Savvas ysatis and taylor deupree - tower of winds abstract electronics in that amusik/mego vibe. Taylor Deupree - comma minimal techno. At first it seems very up front but buried beneath it are layers of abstraction. A fascinating listen. Lithops - uni umit CD subtle. strange. moving. A must buy. If you don't like experimental music stay far far away. For the rest of us this is a must have. Jan st. Werner does it again spectre - second coming Hip Hop on the edge of obscurity. Didn't initially catch me but on repeated listens I came to appreciate it. For those who like it dark and weird. surgeon - balance. solid release. At times abstract while other times pounding. A must have. Think Jeff Mills; think Black Dog (though more straight forward) Phil western -the escapist dj philth of download (and off and gone). Buy this. Great techno, great electronics, great tribal overtones. The CD is all over the place but it works very well. I found it to be driving, disturbing and mesmerizing. Calexico - the black light post tejano. Very good. What the soundtrack to Zorro should have been Supergroup strangeness from the san francisco crew WideScreen versions certificate 18 gets remixed by tls, autechre, plaid, kirk degiorgio. Nuff said The sound of cologne a primer for the cologne scene. Very good Phthalocyanine - navy warship. Abstraction and music (techno?). Not readily accessible but good. Again, for those who like their music served with a side of experimentalism. Jetzmann/liquidski - go home, dotty harmony twisted dark techno with a slight sense of humor. Perfect for those twilight hours when your mind is neither awake or asleep. Anyone know if these guys have released anything else? UR - Interstellar fugitives. The soundtrack to urbanized life. It is all there. Predominately electro tinged this CD takes you on a journey through the dark corners of detroit. All the while making sure that you are aware of the social implications of the journey. -daniel

'Casual Bodies' - Klute I first heard Klute via their Lexis remix, on the flip-side of a 12" from Autechre's. He definitely rights out and out drum n bass, so if you like your breakbeats noodly and un-dancefloor, this may not be the one for you. At the time I remember being underwhelmed by his effort, possibly for the above reasons, but the album is really getting a hold on me. The drum sounds are crisp, the rhythms strike a good balance between a solid groove and some attention-grabbing moments, there's a great sense of dynamics, and, well, the atmospherics do exactly what they should. The album didn't floor me first listen, but I would definitely recommend it. I would suggest people into Arcon/Oil check this out straight away. Actually, who is Tom Withers (ie. does he record under other names)? 'tddr' - To Rococo Rot + D In case I got the name wrong, I'm thinking of the one that people just raved about on here over the past couple of days. Yeah, it's fantastic. It's got me really excited, possibly more than any other release this year has initially. They're supposed to be thrown in the 'post-rock' basket, but they're a lot more typical IDM (well, filtered bleeps, some 909 drum sounds, only one small passage that sounds like guitars). I'm really attracted to their sound: there is a lot of warmth and lushness, and some clear deep synth bass tones, but tempered with a lot of surface noise and good concrete percussive sounds. In some respects it reminds me of Arovane and Pole, but only in terms of production/arrangement. Michael ____________________________________________ "Also, he has automatic evasion devices" http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~michael/jj.html