IDM Mailing Archive

On Wed, 15 May 1991, rd wrote:

quoted 1 line wow, i've been so far gone into FAX land that i almost let a

> wow, i've been so far gone into FAX land that i almost let a

great > thing like wagon christ pass me by...truly great stuff...what i'd like is > to get some opinions about the redone ep and phat lab nightmare...i know > this has probably all been discussed before, so sorry for bringing it up > again, but i'd really like to get some more info on these other releases. > recommendations for similar sounding material welcome. thanks thanks > thanks! > > r. > > rdudley@mindspring.com > the reply: i take it you have throbbing pouch? Throbbing pouch is vital; it's got absolutely swinging beats, crazy shifts in sounds and rhythms, and is almost instantly accessible on the first listen, very cheerful, even. I love the way he drops off 90% of the mix and keeps some background loop/shuffle rhythm going, real quiet, something that was in the background for the past 2 minutes but you barely heard it. it's formulaic? but i don't care, it is smooth. In 1989, i would have expected that the groundbreaking hip-hop genre back then (de la soul, bdp, pe, eric b, etc) would in five years evolve into something that would produce work like throbbing pouch. Do you know what i mean? (By the way the "hello" sample on one song is from de la soul's "buddy". What's the "flavor hits yr greedy tongue" from? I think it's on "reedin") We've heard a lot about plugs 1 2 and 3 (also a tribute to "3 feet high and rising" era de la soul, i believe, where they call each other plug 1 2 & 3. Or is there a more common colloquial meaning to "plug 1" that i'm missing? Hey wait: 3 feet high and rising, rising high records, hmm.) ... so I won't speak on those. But here's how some other wagon christ compares, as i see it, all on rising high records, in reverse chronological order, i think: the REDONE ep: 3 mixes; 1 by aphex twin, one by wagon christ, one by voafose or boymarang, i can't remember and the sleeve is confusing anyway. The afx remix is sort of rdj's take on jungle, but not really, only in the sense that it's got super breakneck percussive tempos. it's not at all vibrant like the throbbing pouch album is. it's too manic for me. i much prefer rdj's calm, melodic stuff. the remix wagon christ did himself is pretty good, but it's got a lot of the same elements as the original. RICKALESSI ep: 3 new ones, one off tp, by wagon christ. some excellent remixes with elements of the title song off throbbing pouch. contains a song with an abrasive "you should see how i'm feeling" sample of some grating annoying limey dwarf. AT ATMOS ep: 5 songs. THIS is the one to get as, IMHO. dubby, mature, constantly evolving tunes. a couple tunes begin w/ off kilter warbly feeble legged rickity noises, which slowly evolve into rythmic melodies, become complemented by other elements that drift into the mix, until the whole becomes coherent, complex yet not at all confusing, and it really does swing. PHAT LAB NIGHTMARE: full length eight songs. an appropriate title. bad dreams; unexpected, experimental changes; solitude, yet some definite grooves. more "ambient" or spacious than his later work; less beats. what beats there are are on the mechanical and inorganic side, some 808 sounding stuff peppered in. no one would call this "trip-hop", whereas many feel "throbbing pouch" falls into that category. phat lab nightmare has a lot more synth textures, rather than samples. some of the songs: "mahadelic" is the strong opener; lush trebley synth slides and holds, with a ramshackle percussive bell melody line that eventually manages to undo the bandana its got wrapped around its mouth. then everything drops out for a shuffling bongo solo. next song "glass world" slowly introduces a synth gurgle, which starts out really quiet as barely sputtering periodic bubbles and gestates into a echoey acid tweaked out lonely wasteland figure. the middle song in the "aerhaart" trilogy begins with some gigantic bass reverb monolith slams, they give way to some breathy voiseish chords, then you realize the bass reverb monster footsteps are still there, at 120% the original volume. the third "aerhaart" track presents us with the only obviously sampled drumbeat on the whole album; black sabbath's "wasp", stark and narcotic. the upbeat closing track "dances with frances", give us a forecast of the throbbing pouch style. phat lab nightmare is probably the closest thing to fax. this especially makes sense in light of the story that vibert was unexpectedly invited by rising high to make an "ambient" album. supposed, he was like, uh, yeah sure, i'm an ambient artist. And then he made up a bunch of stuff real quick. Regardless, it's quite an album.