These have probably already been discussed, but I just picked up Kid 606's
"Down With the Scene" and Swayzak's "Himawari." If you love Squarepusher,
Bogdan Raczynski, Alec Empire, or Twisted Science then you must buy Kid
606's cd. If you love deep house, techhouse, Richie Hawtin/Plastikman, then
you must buy Swayzak's "Himawari." The sleeve for 606's cd is filled with
manga which is what listening to Down With the Scene reminds me of. The cd
contains hyperactive and distorted drum n' bass, soul, hip-hop breakbeats,
and punk. Sounds confusing, but he pulls it all off very nicely.
The Swayzak cd is some of the smoothest, deepest techhouse that I have ever
heard. Play it in your car while driving through the streets at night to
experience pure bliss. I don't know if Swayzak will ever be able to top this
cd. It has the feel of an instant classic, so fans will say about future
releases, "The new Swayzak cd is good, but it's no Himawari."
The new Twisted Science, Deep and Warm, is also incredible. The title of the
cd describes its character compared Tye's other stuff. It's less harsh and
focuses more on ambient noise textures. Very warm and deep indeed. Reminds
me a lot of Mika Vainio's Onkyo(sp) cd. If you like Farmer's Manual or
Panasonic's subtler stuff, then check this one out.
Dave Seaman's mix for the Renaissance: Awakening cd is top notch. If you
like deep house or progressive, then this is a very solid purchase. His mix
for the Global Underground series is also great.
Finally, I've saved Mr. Raczynski for last. What can I say? He is brilliant.
However, the annoying vocals on his new cd, Thinking of You, were too much
for me. It's really frustrating for me to listen to. I can hear all of this
awesome drum programming and beautiful melodies, but then he messes it up
with a bunch of goofy singing. I don't get it. Aphex Twin did it, but he
knew when to do it and when to shut up. It makes me mad because all of the
music on Thinking of You is Bogdan's best to date. However, to sacrifice the
music (which is most important) for the sake of goofiness seems really lame
to me.
I read in an interview that Bogdan sings over his music to get used to
hearing his own voice and to overcome his shyness. I would prefer that he
did this therapy without recording it to his tracks. Simply record the
tracks in all their beauty, then sing over them at home alone or in front of
thousands of people when you perform the tracks live. Don't get me wrong. On
a couple of tracks, the talking adds a lot to the music, but the Aphex Twin,
Come to Daddy, screeching is done way too often. I think there's a reason
why Richard D. James only does one track like that on an ep. Oh well, Bogdan
is a genius, and I love his music (minus singing), so to ask him to change
what he does would destroy what makes the artist who he is.
--
shephrd@earthlink.net | "...thita NK;"
"...mechanically reclaimed by autechre..."
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