Apologies for the overlong Mu-Ziq review - I'm starting to ramble in my
old age :)
--
Reviewed:
Mu-Ziq : In Pine Effect (Hi-Rise/Virgin)
AFX : Hangable Auto Bulb (Warp)
Jonah Sharp, Plaid & Mark Broom : South of Market EP (Reflective)
Cylob : Industrial Folk Songs (Rephlex)
CJ Bolland : Starship Universe (Internal)
The Advent : Manipulate EP (Internal)
The Advent : Now and Then EP (Internal)
Mu-Ziq : In Pine Effect (Hi-Rise/Virgin)
Oh dear - I was hoping that this wouldn't happen. It afflicted Richard
James quite badly and now Mike Paradinas seems to slipping down the
same path. The affliction? Not trying hard enough, having a laugh
instead and ultimately releasing records that they *know* will be good,
regardless of what tracks they actually put on it. It takes a supreme
amount of confidence to do this - or you could just adopt a 'screw you'
attitude instead. And whilst this might be annoying, the fact remains that
their releases are *still* pretty damn amazing. Take this, Mike's third
LP (his first on his own Virgin sub-label, Planet Mu) - he seems to be
moving in the direction of his jazzed up Jake Slazenger LP, and whilst
this is not specifically a bad thing, it's pretty well known that Mike
does the funky, cheesy synth-lead thang pretty damn well. And this is
what you get for the most part on this wildly varying LP - there are
hints of the intensity of _Bluff Limbo_ and _Tango N'Vectif_ but they
get squeezed inbetween Nintendo melodies and syn-tom drum rolls. It
opens impressively with the paranoid _Mr. Angry_ featuring a screaming
baby on vocals (nice try Mike, but its already been done - check out
_Louis' Cry_ on F Communications by the weird wunderkid Juan Trip), and
drops nicely into the deep strings of _Melancho_ but from then on, the
majority of the tracks are jumped-up Casio chords and the now rather
over-used disorted drum machines. Maybe it was too much to expect
another _Bluff Limbo_ but to me, Paradinas' Mu-Ziq alter-ego was a
outlet for future techno from the bedroom generation. What was that
Black Dog quote? "I sit in my room and imagine the future" - yeah,
exactly. Listen to the moody, focused rhythms and washes of his early
LPs and they transport you to other worlds of imaginary soundscapes and
future funk - listen to an over-driven cheesy organ sound and your
reminded that, yes, those early Yamaha keyboards had *really* bad
patches. And whilst this album is full of quirky amusing fun, that
rhythmic innovation that he does so well and the funky off-hand
brilliance he applies at every turn, I can't help thinking that his
recent work has lost that stark beauty and emotion that pervaded his
early material. Maybe it's nostalgia - the same feeling that makes me
play early AFX material rather than _Donkey Rhubarb_ but I doubt it -
this isn't a *bad* release, there is something here for everyone, but
it smacks of mediocrity, and for someone who is capable of more, this
isn't good news at all. Let's hope this isn't the start of something bad...
AFX : Hangable Auto Bulb (Warp)
[Reprinted from an earlier IDM posting...]
Heh; nice one. Its kind of throwaway, distort-o-jungle. Lots of snappy,
rattling snare sounds and the odd, Mu-Ziq style 8-bit melodies - there
were also some small bits of melted plastic or something stuck to my copy
but if anything, it makes it sound better by jumping the rhythms around :)
Half the time, he's taking the piss though. If you've heard enough
jungle, you've probably heard that effect where they get some rude boy
saying some words, and they then repeat it with a sort of echoing,
flanging, fast noise gate effect over the top. Richard immediately does
the same on _Children Talking_ but with a kids voice saying "mashed
potatoes" instead. Well I laughed. I can't imagine the junglists being
too impressed though... Ah, sod 'em. This is a great bit of noisy,
breakbeat pillaging fun and I love it.
Jonah Sharp, Plaid & Mark Broom : South of Market EP (Reflective)
Another promo, so no track listings (not that I include them in my
reviews anyway :). This three tracker features some of the warmest
grooves around - all of them feature those trademark Black Dog-esq
clattering mistimed rhythms, but here you also get some warm, phat bass
and some sunny, drifting poly-melodic moods. The side with one-track on
it is the highlight - all of the afore-mentioned qualities are in
evidence but the track has the most complete structure and the nicest,
laid back groove you could imagine. The other side is less entertaining -
darker, diverted moods on the first track and *crazy*, Roland-shuffling on
the last track that even Juan Atkins would raise an eyebrow at. As a 12"
its a bit hit and miss - the first track is a treat but the other two
tend to meander along fairly aimlessly.
Cylob : Industrial Folk Songs (Rephlex)
Ouch - Chris Jeffs' harder material always used to make me wince but
these slabs of industrial-strength static are his most intractable yet.
This time he slows the beats down to a painfully slow tempo - each thump
and clang hits you with monotonous timing and ear-battering strength.
After the bangs and howls, there are some ambient moments but they sound
like a knife in slow-motion, whistling dangerously close to your head.
This is paranoid stuff indeed - one for the 'Phlex-heads (it's on marbled
grey vinyl) and for people who make DAT copies of road-drills.
CJ Bolland : Starship Universe (Internal)
The first of Bolland's more "dancefloor friendly" releases on Internal
is more of that CJ competence. Rip the rave chords out of _Camargue_ and
you'll have a fair idea about the strength of these three tracks - all
are fast, hard and technically polished. Bolland always knew how to move
a crowd and he's honed this skill down to each 909 cymbal crash. The
title track has the gnarliest beats and the alternating melodious stabs
and _Counterpoint_ bangs the most (try to ignore the lame snip of melody
that keeps irritatingly showing up). Most interestingly, Internal have
included his remix of an old Utah Saints track which arguably pre-dates
the Basic Channel sound - that clanging, building sound is used well
although there is none of the seemingly inadvertant nuances of the Maurizio
output. It's quite a shame then, when a relatively long sample of Sean
Connery is stuck in half-way through, demolishing any mood and making me
giggle inanely. On the whole though, this is approachable, danceable
techno destined for the DJ booth rather than your couch.
The Advent : Manipulate EP (Internal)
Ex-CJ Bolland collaborator Cisco Ferreira and chum Colin McBean team up
for this, the newest Advent 12". This time around it's two tracks of
Mills style techno - replacing the mistuned synth pings for snare rolls
and dark rhythmic experimentation. _Mad Dog_ sounds more like Luke
Slater's Morganistic material but with less of a groove to it -
_Farencounter_ is pure hard drum trickery. Both tracks thump beautifully
and are a perfect addition to any DJ crate - hard, polished techno for
serious dancing.
The Advent : Now and Then EP (Internal)
This older Advent release sees our two heroes push out in different
directions - moody electro on _City Limits_ and fast, Trope style acid
on _Ano Domini_ and _The Living_. The electro track works nicely with
some vocal snippets and wavering chords but it never picks up enough.
Both the acid tracks hit hard and fast and manage to maintain enough
momentum and variety to carry them through (particularly the deep sub-
bass on _The Living_). The problem with this 12" (and with The Advent
in general) is that whilst they seem to be competent at anything they
turn their hand to, their material normally lacks any sort of experimental
spark - the _Manipulate EP_ comes closest but Jeff Mills got there first
boys. Still, drop any of their EPs into a set and people will love you -
like CJ Bolland, The Advent have the competence and dancefloor know-how
to get the floor rocking.
|| [CiM]
|| s.walley@uea.ac.uk
||
http://www.sys.uea.ac.uk/~u9323899/