Another set of mini reviews of idm, with emphasis on the d.
Artist Title Label Score
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Megalon Darkness Plink Plonk +1.5
Alkahest Universal Constant ep Post Contemporary +2
? ? Analog +1.5
Auto Kinetic Phobia/Polarbaby Digidl +1
Miro Spaceman Effective -0.5
Scoring: +3: buy this
+2: probably worth buying
+1: maybe worth buying, but listen to it first.
0: completely neutral. no regrets, but not excited
-1: maybe not worth buying, but listen to it first.
-2: probably not worth buying
-3: don't buy this
Megalon -- Darkness (Plink Plonk) (+1.5)
A patient trancer with a shuffling house beat on the
bottom and a dense array of synth noises on top. I'd
probably like the track a little better if it were stripped
down some, but it's a nice track just the same.
Alkahest -- Universal Constant ep (Post Contemporary) (+2)
13 locked grooves, some single grooves, others whole
songs ending in locked grooves. The beats are varied, but
relatively conservative. The synths lines are buzzy and
metallic. Speed? 133bpm, of course. A fun album to spin
with.
Analog Records #3 (+1.5)
Wow. Lots of variety, but the two songs with
a) decent length and
b) actual beats
clock in at 170 and 174. A little fast for the IDM crowd, I
know. On the plus side, the synth lines burble around in a
confused soup of sonic turbulence, and the text on the label
says that the sounds on one of the sides were created with a
Moog(!). Definitely interesting.
Auto Kinetic -- Phobia/Polarbaby
b/w Paul Mix -- Wounded Soul (Digidl 003) (+1)
This album lies on the accessible side of idm, being
populated with flowing melodic synth lines which hook the
listener without being too cheesy. Kind of like a
not-quite-as-good Orbital. Polarbaby is the standout track.
Its bouncing bassline repeats with a time signature all its
own, giving the track a polyrhythmic detroit kind of sound.
Miro -- Spaceman (Effective) (-0.5)
This song isn't terrible, but it's just not my cup of
tea. The synths fall into definite melodies, the beats are
blah, and the sound is, in general, uninspired melodic
trance. Then again, it could just be my prejudice against
melodic trance, which makes me, quite frankly, feel as if
I'm stuck in an elevator. Your mileage may vary.