Yet another set of mini reviews of idm, with emphasis on the d.
The high scores this time around are *not* due to score
inflation. I just happen to love all of them.
Artist Title Label Score
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shape Changer Crystal Dreams Vol I Experimental +3
Schism Reflect Diatomyc +2
Christian Vogel Intersync EP Virtual Science +2.5
Sonic Solution Turbulence R&S +2
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
Shape Changer -- Crystal Dreams Vol I (Experimental) +3
Wow.
Do you remember going to the last Orbital tour and
thinking to yourself, "gosh, Orbital sounds different live"?
Did I hear you say yes? Good. That's what this 2x12"
sounds like: a strong, danceable beat underneath lush waves
of melodic synth noise. Do I like this album? Let me put
it this way. When I wake up every morning, the first thing
I do is get down on my hands and knees to thank Ghod for
giving me the wisdom to buy this album. Then, I brush my
teeth.
The sound varies from dark to playful to beautiful, and
the speed is moderate, clocking in between 145 and 155 bpm.
The sound is more accessible than some of the stranger stuff
coming out these days, but by no means commercial, and every
one of the six tracks is strong enough to be released as a
single in its own right. My favorite purchase of 1994.
Schism -- Reflect (Diatomyc) +2
A complex, densely layered stormer from Diatomyc, an
offshoot of R&S. Much of the percussion sounds like samples
of metal striking metal passed through filters and otherwise
treated, giving the track a sound vaguely like "Quoth", with
perhaps more syncopation and more stuff going on on top (the
occasional analog squeal flits around on top of the soup).
The b-sides are "Red Shift", which layers spacey synths and
analog wibbles over a solid beat and persistent bassline,
and "Psychosomatic", which is seems well put together, but
just isn't my cup of tea. Reminds me of some of the jazzy
stuff off of Beltram Vol. I, I suppose. These two tracks
are mixed together on the album.
Christian Vogel -- Intersync EP (Virtual Science) +2.5
I've already talked about this once, so I'll keep this
short. Virtual Science is supposedly the "Intelligent"
sub-label of Force, Inc., and this EP is exactly what you'd
expect from such a label. The sound is harder than, say,
Warp stuff, but isn't as hard as Force stuff. Let's call it
something like CJ Bolland crossed with Kenny Larkin. All
four tracks are interesting, complex, and stylistically
varied. Wonderful.
Sonic Solution -- Turbulence (R&S) +2
I've already used CJ Bolland to describe the Christian
Vogel EP, but I'm going to do it again. Turbulence sounds
exactly like something CJ Bolland would put together. Ok...
Waitaminit... Duh. I just looked closely at the label,
which reads, "all tracks written and produced by CJ Bolland
and Steve Cop". So there you go.
The title track features a dancing acid line reminiscent
of "Nightbreed". Vintage CJ Bolland. "Count Zero" is a
solid, patient pounder which plods forward dutifully until a
breakdown in which a buzzy synth line is introduced on top,
which (IMHO) derails the whole deal. The other b-side,
"String Theory", starts off with beautiful, ethereal synths
over a confused kick drum pattern (imagine the drum pattern
from "Thrust", but more complicated). The song then goes
into a breakdown featuring what sounds like steel drums
reverbed to hell. The original sounds are then added back
to the mix, as is an acid line for the final section.
Wonderful.
That's it. If you have any comments or suggestions, please
send mail. I'd be glad to hear from you.
-Sho
--
sho@physics.purdue.edu <<-- finger this account to find out what I'm
having for lunch!
<A HREF="
http://physics.purdue.edu/~sho/homepage.html>Sho Kuwamoto</A>.