IDM Mailing Archive

Picked up a couple new things this week.... Was curious enough to give the new Delerium a test spin, and not to be ambiguous or anything, but I like it and I donUt. ItUs got nice, lush textures, vocals and voice samples to send any Enigma fan into paroxyms of joy, and generally good beats. BUT, the beats are all lifted quite obviously from your favorite bands (FSOL, Orb, Enigma, etc.), the voices are doubtless all from world music CDUs (except for a dandy, angelic live vocalist), and that Front Line Assembly industrial sound and arrangement style is still vaguely there, not that thatUs a bad thing in itself, but it makes the music not fit well with your general ambient fare. ItUs hard to explain this last complaint, but if youUre familiar with FLA you probably know what I mean. Also picked up the Woob album just out on Emit, and I like it a lot. It has the flow of a live ambient set (which it sort of is), in that it doesnUt have your typical intro-buildup-climax-outro form, but shifts from idea to idea, sometimes trancing out, sometimes not. The ambient stuff is not so much unsettling as mysterious, with snippets of voices, natural sounds, and icy textures. The drums are tribaly with slow-trance breakbeats, usually build around some sort of ethnic instrument or voice. He has a habit of pitching the voices higher, which you would think would make them chipmunky and irritating, but instead makes them rather alien and mesmerising. Cool stuff. My current problem is that when IUm record shopping my eye keeps wandering over to industrial/experimental ambient stuff, but I have no idea where to start. Muslimgause, Zoviet France, Paul Schutze, Mo Boma, Shinjuku Thief, Hafler Trio...all there are things I want to check out, but every time I think about it my bank account just gives me this withering look and thatUs the end of it. So would anyone who has some expertise is this genre (or just has tons of Extreme) be willing to make me a sampler tape? I will gladly reciprocate with whatever. Thank you for your support. --Jeff

On Thu, 22 Sep 1994, Jeffrey Kihn wrote:

quoted 24 lines Also picked up the Woob album just out on Emit, and I like it a lot.

> Also picked up the Woob album just out on Emit, and I like it a lot. > It has the flow of a live ambient set (which it sort of is), in that > it doesnUt have your typical intro-buildup-climax-outro form, but > shifts from idea to idea, sometimes trancing out, sometimes not. > The ambient stuff is not so much unsettling as mysterious, with > snippets of voices, natural sounds, and icy textures. The drums are > tribaly with slow-trance breakbeats, usually build around some sort of > ethnic instrument or voice. He has a habit of pitching the voices > higher, which you would think would make them chipmunky and irritating, > but instead makes them rather alien and mesmerising. Cool stuff. > > My current problem is that when IUm record shopping my eye keeps > wandering over to industrial/experimental ambient stuff, but I have > no idea where to start. > Muslimgause, Zoviet France, Paul Schutze, Mo Boma, Shinjuku Thief, > Hafler Trio...all there are things I want to check out, but every > time I think about it my bank account just gives me this withering > look and thatUs the end of it. So would anyone who has some expertise > is this genre (or just has tons of Extreme) be willing to make me a > sampler tape? I will gladly reciprocate with whatever. > Thank you for your support. > > --Jeff >

Hello Jeff- Speaking as someone who owns almost all the of the Muslimgauze releases, I would definately recommend them as worth checking out. Their material actually varies from quite aggressive percussive centered work (a), to more ambient, lush interweeving " percussive textures " (b). My top five in order: 1)Vieled Sisters (2CD set) (b) 2)Betrayal (b) 3)Zulm (a/b) 4)Vote Hezabollah (a) 5)Coup De'Tat (a/b) I have owned some of these for some time now, and still consider them as a cornerstone of my CD collection... As for the others, I have heard them at the store but haven't brought them home with me- of them all, I would say Halfler Trio is the most intruiging, though I never know just what it is they think (or want other people to think, perhaps....) they're doing. Any comments, anyone? As for a sampler tape, contact me individually and we can talk... All 'Gauzed up- Thad thad@falcon.cc.ukans.edu

On Thu, 22 Sep 1994, Jeffrey Kihn wrote:

quoted 2 lines Was curious enough to give the new Delerium a test spin, and not to

> > Was curious enough to give the new Delerium a test spin, and not to

quoted 4 lines paroxyms of joy, and generally good beats. BUT, the beats are all

> paroxyms of joy, and generally good beats. BUT, the beats are all > lifted quite obviously from your favorite bands (FSOL, Orb, Enigma, > etc.), the voices are doubtless all from world music CDUs (except for > a dandy, angelic live vocalist), and that Front Line Assembly industrial

I heard the (I think) previous album, the one with Saturn on the cover... I was so annoyed for it sounds like Bill just trying to cash in on the Ambient thing. I mean, 2001/HAL 9000 samples? I thought that the Shamen exhausted that one back in 1989.(Actually, they did it brilliantly "phorward"). And lots of (by that time) typical space samples. Sampling liberally from Vangelis' 1492 soundtrack didn't help in the originality department. This short new album description leaves me wondering if he creates anything of his own. I haven't heard any of the Oliver Leeb stuff, but I would guess that it sounds like someone else with technoed Front Line Assembly bits garnished overtop. But this is my opinion and is not a judgement call on you buying the album or liking it. c-ya chris clarke

quoted 7 lines My current problem is that when IUm record shopping my eye keeps

> My current problem is that when IUm record shopping my eye keeps > wandering over to industrial/experimental ambient stuff, but I have > no idea where to start. > Muslimgause, Zoviet France, Paul Schutze, Mo Boma, Shinjuku Thief, > Hafler Trio...all there are things I want to check out, but every > time I think about it my bank account just gives me this withering > look and thatUs the end of it.

There's an Extreme compilation CD called "X-Section" (i.e. "cross-section") that features tracks by various Extreme artists. It's a pretty good introduction to the label.

quoted 5 lines Muslimgauze, Zoviet France, Paul Schutze, Mo Boma, Shinjuku Thief, Hafler

>> Muslimgauze, Zoviet France, Paul Schutze, Mo Boma, Shinjuku Thief, Hafler >> Trio ... all there are things I want to check out, but every time I think >> about it my bank account just gives me this withering look and that's the >> end of it. So would anyone who has some expertise is this genre (or just >> has tons of Extreme) be willing to make me a sampler tape?

[...]

quoted 7 lines Here's what you should get, in order:

>Here's what you should get, in order: > >1. Paul Schutze - New Maps Of Hell >2. Shinjuku Thief - Bloody Tourist >3. Muslimgauze - Zul'm >4. Mo Boma - Jijimuge >5. Muslimgauze - United States Of Islam

Greg's Alternative Viewpoint: 1. Uzect Plaush a.k.a. Paul Schutze - "More Beautiful Human Life" 2. Muslimgauze - [Anything] 3. Forget the rest and buy more IDM stuff :-) I'd (personally) much rather hear Paul Schutze do IDM (as Uzect Plaush) than Industrial/Experimental/Zzzzzzz nowadays. IMNSHO, Muslimgauze suffers from a severe case of "Heard one? Heard 'em all" syndrome. If Jon thinks that "Zul'm" and "United States of Islam" are better than the older stuff, good enough - but just buy one and you've got the idea. - Greg

quoted 1 line Hafler Trio is good as well. My favorite is "Kill The King".<<

>>Hafler Trio is good as well. My favorite is "Kill The King".<<

It's currently out of print, but is scheduled for reissue of Soleilmoon. ____________________________________________________________________________ Paul Rafanello ambience@delphi.com ____________________________________________________________________________