To: owner-idm-reviews@hyperreal.com
From: jrarmstrong@uccs.edu
Date: Mon, 05 Dec 1994 14:56:22 MST
To: IDM-REVIEWS@HYPERREAL.COM
Subject: More (surprise!) reviews
Got a few new 12" this weekend.. check 'em out..
Apollo 440: "States of cryonic suspension" or something
The original mix of this blows. Cheezy b-movie "cryonic suspension"
samples, boring trance riffs, and a simply awful male vocal (think the
guy from Dead Can Dance) midway through. The Deep Forest mix is tolerable,
but hardly moving - typical ambient intro, with typical trance breakdown about
halfway through. Okay, flip to side 2. The FSOL mix is nice, but nothing
really fantastic - slow dubby beats, with the "ethnic" feel that's been
a little too played out recently IMO. The Jah Wobble mix is wonderful
however - one of those amazing Wobble basslines with a 160ish bpm
jungle breakbeat. Tape this from a friend.
Phuture "The Original Creators"
Dope acid house on Strictly Rhythm? I dunno, this is definitely
a good move for this label. This is up there (quality wise) with Pierre's
older trax (Acid Trax, We Are Phuture etc) so snap this one up, esp. at
a domestic price.
Terrance Dixon "Live in Detroit"
Don't know exactly what "live" implies here (performance? without
MIDI?) but this is a nice 12" for all of us minimalist Detroit-heads
out there. EXTREMELY raw and totally underground, and definitely more
on the experimental tip.
DBX "Losing Control"
Tamara Palmer called this one "boring" but I don't think so.
The title track kicks, I love how the sample is tweaked to give it an
acidic feel without the acid. The rest is OK, although nothing exciting.
Looking forward to more stuff from this guy (Dan Bell.)
Larry Heard "Scenarios not Songs"
Heard (aka Mr. Fingers) manages somehow to keep his signature sound
(think "Can U Feel It") and integrate it into a rather jazzy format,
without Kenny G'ing out on us. Wonderful home listening (wonder why
he even included BPM's on the label?) My only gripe is that a couple of
the sounds sound like Wavestation presets, but that's forgivable given
the sheer quality and musicianship of this work. I also heard this is
his last musical outing..