OK, so what's the big deal about all these artists being influenced by
Animotion? ('An' for short, of course) I mean, "Obsession" was a pretty
catchy song, with a nice rocking chorus, and tinkly bass line. Who
wouldn't want to ape something like that? Regardless, here are some
recent digs.. Reviewed here are Riow Arai, The Wee Djs, Tektonics,
Speedy J, Botchit Breaks 3, Deeds Plus Thoughts, Quato, and Q Sound
-----------------------------------------
* RIOW ARAI "Mind Syndicate" LP
I knew this would be a good record when the second track "55" sounded
like a Tackhead track put in a mild blender setting. It turns out this
is one of the greatest breaks records I've gotten in quite a while.
Like, 14 out of the 16 tracks are great... which is an impressive hit/miss
ratio. Similar treatment on other tracks. Great hip-hop tempo breaks
cut up and twisted around. If any of you enjoy that Cylob breaks record,
this is a step above it.
-----------------------------------------
* THE WEE DJs "Wee Killed Him" EP
Very trebley, clicky, weird, high frequency electro -- to sum it up.
Best tracks here are "Is It Frogs?", "Cheetos Way", and "Freeman".
Highly recommended
-----------------------------------------
* Various Artists "TEKTONICS" 2LP
Except for the Ming & FS, Soulstice/DJ Curse, and Meat Beat
Manifesto/Herbaliser tracks, pretty boring... which is a shame, as
OM records usually puts out pretty solid comps...("Deep Concentration"
and "Deeper Concentration", cases in point). Somehow, most of this just
suffers mainly from not finding songs that take the "Hey, you've got
scratching in my jungle and/or funky breaks! But, you've got jungle and
funky breaks in my scratching!" novelty to the next level. I shamefully
forget the jungle guy's name, but there's an excellent turntablist/jungle
record featuring Radar on the tables that just smokes most of "Tektonics"
off the spindle. Get that instead.
-----------------------------------------
* SPEEDY J "A Shocking Hobby" 2LP
If you're expecting this to be the non-stop I.D.M. booty shaking
epic with one "IEEE Mitten Menu" after the other,...um, don't. In fact,
I just can't get over how much this sounds like an instrumental
reinterpretation of late 80s/early 90s Skinny Puppy. Dark, chilling
ambience padded with hip-hop tempo pounding and punchy electro distortion.
And it's done very well..... It's too early for me to declare this
release "amazing" or not, but I thought I'd give the heads up.
-----------------------------------------
* Q PROJECT "Champion Sound" 12"
Let's just ignore the ")EI3C" remix and cut to to the Tipper remix.
Aaaah... One of Tipper's finest moments. Every little microsecond
edit just rips, shrieks, and pounds.... As amazing as, say, Speedy J's
"The Jag" mix.
-----------------------------------------
* Various Artists "BOTCHIT BREAKS VOLUME 3"
I guess this is expected for big ol' comps like this, but these Botchit &
Scarper comps always are relatively weaker than the individual 12"
releases, as far as da New Skool Breakz go. I'll say this much:
this blows away Volume 2. Still though, the only amazing tracks here are
the FreQ Nasty track and the T. Power mix of the BLIM track. And
conveniently, these are two of the three tracks on a single 12" sampler
for this compilation..(Hence, I own that and not the whole set.)
Even the Si Begg track is nothing to call mom about.
-----------------------------------------
* QUATO "Urban Virus" EP
Mainly good for the first track "Panicky"... Damn fine funky electro
with loud lasers occasionally blasting in.
-----------------------------------------
* DEEDS PLUS THOUGHTS "Bumps and Pots" EP
"Rhythmic Haze" is an amazing fast-paced soul breakbeat jam.. not unlike
those Skye 12"s (especially the "Vol 2" single released on Depth Charge's
label)..."Dayton Bumps" is a boppy downtempo number with a neat little
folky reggae loop.
-----------------------------------------
=======================================================================
Brian MacDonald <brianm@kuci.org>
KUCI 88.9 fM in Irvine, CA -- Orange County
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