t2ep suggested:
quoted 2 lines I do believe it's about time to put Mr. Parkes under the IDM microscope,>I do believe it's about time to put Mr. Parkes under the IDM microscope,
>especially in light of all the ANTI-squarepusher sentiment around here.
as an early instigator of said sentiments, i feel compelled to respond
(part. since i ended my first sp remarks with the observation that i bought
_hidden camera_ instead of _feed_).
quoted 4 lines IMO what Rupert has been doing (although extremely original) is as>IMO what Rupert has been doing (although extremely original) is as
>formulaic as what T.J. Pusherman has done. Also, there seem to be
>in my ears a familiar *thinness* to his breaks...dare I attribute this
>to a digital Vs analog approach?
i agree with this criticism, at least with the photek i've been able to
actually track down. i own only _ufo_ and _hidden camera_, neither of which
i find particularly marvelous, but both of which seem to hold my attention
longer than, say, anything i've heard out of squarep. coming at drum'n'bass
from an ambient perspective (and no i don't think tpower's all that), it
makes sense that i would hold mr. parkes in higher acclaim, considering the
degree of attention to mood and atmosphere one finds in many of his tracks.
imo, parkes is able--through use of space, dynamics, contrast, and other
elements of composition that i don't find very much of in, say, any of the
tracks on _feed me weird things_--to say more by way of extremity in a
single bolt-action click sample (c.f. "hidden camera") than most of the
messy, hyperventilated noodlings of squarepusher.
now, that's fine in the scheme of things, but neither do i think photek, at
least in his most recent output, is pushing his sound much. whenever a new
opart single comes my way i get excited to hear the sort of intricate
detail and creative beat manipulation of, say, the truper track on
colduct's mix cd (still the best thing of his i've ever heard), or some of
the other descriptions of his music i've read. but i don't hear it. i
mostly hear, as teep described it, that "thinness," a signature of parkes,
it seems, which is fine in and of itself but which, i think, becomes a
bit...yeah, _boring_ over the course of several releases that don't stray
too far from that...
one more thing--the high point of _hidden camera_ is, for me as well as, it
would seem, most, "kmj," the longish first track with the excellent cymbal
work and trapset fills. this, in short, is why i'm drawn to photek. he may
only hit it once every couple of tracks, but when he's on...shit, he's
_fuck off_ on.
quoted 4 lines Last, I find it quite amusing that people would go to great extent nit->Last, I find it quite amusing that people would go to great extent nit-
>picking T.J.'s work in the same breath as a big thumbs up for this
>hidden camera 2x12" of which I can only find 1 track which _really_ hits
>the spot.
yeah, well, one's perhaps not so critical of the fine-but-plain, perhaps
more subtle dress of the peasant when there's a naked would-be king
bellowing from the catwalk...
sc