The first of several new review posts this week...
. Donnacha Costello: together is the new alone cd (Mille Plateaux)
After last year's impressive click-techno debut album 'Growing Up In
Public' and comp/remix appearances on Met@music, Clicks & Cuts 2, &
Auch's 'remix tomorrow goodbye,' Donnacha Costello changes pace with
ten tracks of spacious ambient electronica. From the hypnotic drones
& clicks of 'in spite of everything' to the minimal clicking &
buzzing of 'daydream belief' to the haunting rhythmic minimalism of
'and I got left behind' to the heavily processed solitary guitar
melody of 'dry retch,' every track on this album portrays a melodic
warmth but also a cold spacious minimalism that only hints at the
depth of this release. Overall, 'together is the new alone' an solid
sophomore effort from Donnacha Costello that fans of Shuttle358/Dan
Abrahms or even Dettinger should enjoy. For more information check
out the Mille Plateaux website at
http://www.mille-pleateaux.com
. The Revolutionaries at Channel 1: dub plate specials cd (Jamacian)
As the first in-house session band at Channel One way back in 1976,
The Revolutionaries are the musicians that helped make Channel One's
dub & reggae releases so successful. Fronted by the drums of Sly
Dunbar and the bass of Robbie Shakespeare (aka Sly & Robbie), The
Revolutionaries sound is not one driven by technology but rather by
skilled musicianship and that fact is again evident on this new
collection of Revolutionaries tracks called 'dub plate specials.'
Fourteen instrumental dubs on this album featuring familiar source
material from the likes of Johnny Clarke, John Holt, Dillinger, as
well as Dennis Brown but all produced by the legendary Bunny Lee. For
those not familiar with the sound of The Revolutionaries, it's a very
strong reggae sound incorporating horns, keyboards-piano in addition
to drum & bass with limited use of traditional dub-effects (reverb,
heavy bass etc). Overall 'Dub Plate Specials' is a nice accessible
upbeat release though not particularily diverse or adventuresome
which makes repeat listens less enjoyable for me. Fans of more
traditional reggae-styled dub should enjoy this one but if you're
looking for some more experimental or heavyweight dub then this
release may not be for you.
. Takagi Masakatsu: pia 2xcd (Carpark)
'Pia' is the first solo release for Japanese multimedia artist Takagi
Masakatsu and it features two cds - 1 audio + 1 interactive cd-rom -
of warm Eno-esque beatless relaxed textures, inviting melodies from a
variety of instruments, and subtle samples. A of few of my favorite
moments on the first cd include the distorted synths & spacey
textural oscillations 'Bienna' to the shimmering melodic ambience of
'Fround' to the muted piano melodies, etheral female vocals and warm
organic samples of 'Cino Piano.' The second cd is the mac & pc
multimedia portion of this release. It features five quicktime videos
of tracks from the first cd all of which are accessible through a
nice customized interface which allows the viewer to play,
fast-forward, rewind, and play in reverse each video. Overall 'Pia'
is definitely a stylistic departure for the Carpark label but that in
no way lessens the appeal of this release. Fans of warm glitchy
beatless ambient-pop music in the vein of early Oval, Tom Steinle,
Zammuto, Pulse Programming or maybe even Kohn mixed in with a touch
of Brian Eno should enjoy this release. For more information &
soundbits from Takagi Masakatsu visit his websit at:
http://homepage.mac.com/utono or the Carpark website at:
http://www.carparkrecords.com/pia.html
. Richie Hawtin: DE9 - closer to the edit cd (M_nus/Nova Mute)
Looking at the artists included on this mix is like looking at a list
of my alltime favorite artists - carl craig, baby ford, basic
channel, rhythm & sound, mike ink, thomas brinkmann, sutekh, theorem,
fuse, plastikman to name a few - but when listening to this mix all
that can be heard fro these artists are ghosted remnants of their
tracks. The reason for this is because Richie Hawtin employed a
revolutionary new mixing technique on this album on which he
ditigally sampled a portion of the tracks from the aforementioned
artists and then mixed-manipulated-looped those digital soundbites
into his traditional dj set with a hardware/software system he helped
refine called Final Scratch. The end result is a flawless 53-minute
31-track set mixed with surgical percision. The styles in this set
shift from minimal to dub to deep techno with only a few recognizable
moments from the original tracks where the soundbites were
constructed from. Overall, 'DE9 - closer to the edit' is a fabulous
and highly enjoyable mix and highly recommend for fans of deep
basic-channel-styled techno. Check
http://www.m-nus.com/ for more
information and soundbites.
. Select Cuts from Blood & Fire - chapter two comp cd (Select Cuts)
This is the second installment of the Select Cuts 'remix' compilation
series which showcases contemporary musicians remixing classic
jamacian dub/reggae tracks from the Blood & Fire catalog. A few of
the remixers featured here include Don Letts (ex-Big Audio Dynamite
member) & Dan Donovan (of Dreadzone), Apollo440, Winston Blissett
(bass player for Massive Attack), Leftfield, Kid Loco, Black Star
Liner, Mr. Scruff, and Jah Wobble. Despite the wide range of
remixers, their mixes are all in the dub vein with slight variations
from the bass-heavy dub remix by Dan Donivan & the Don Letts Dub
Cartel of Scientist's 'step it up' to the polished uptempo remix by
Winston Blissett of I-Roy's 'look a boom' to the groovy Nick Manasseh
d&b remix of Glen Brown & King Tubby's 'lambsbread' to the uptempo
robotic Black Star Liner remix of Scientist's 'step it up'. But the
highlight of this release is the Kid Loco funk-hop remix of Morwell
Unlimited & King Tubby's 'morpheus special' trackon which loco funks,
grooves, & scratches to create one of the better remixes of the year.
Overall, this album is a enjoyable listen because of the quality of
the tracks but also to hear how contemporary producers reinvent these
classic tracks in new and interesting ways.
. Terre Thaemlitz: oh, no! it's rubato cd (Mille Plateaux)
Back in 1997, Thaemlitz released an album of piano reinterpretations
of Kraftwerk tracks called 'Die Roboter Rubato.' Two years later came
an album of piano reinterpretations of Gary Numan tracks called
'Republicas Rubato.' This album is the third in the Thaemlitz's
'Rubato' piano reinterpretation series and features remakes of Devo
tracks (along with another long gender-bending manifesto). If you
listen to this release trying to recognize Devo songs then you will
probably be disappointed because the resemblance to the original
tracks is fleeting. But if you listen to this album as just a bunch
of piano pieces then you may get some enjoyment out of this. To me
the strong point of Devo was their lyrics, quirky delivery &
instrumentation and these piano reinterpretations strip those
qualities away so my reaction to this release is lukewarm at best. If
you want some engaging piano-based releases you're much better off
with the recent Akira Rabelais releases. For more info on this
release visit the Mille Plateaux website at
http://www.mille-plateaux.com
Questions, comments, cilantro welcome...
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