IDM Mailing Archive

this review is biased because i have a general distaste for drum 'n' bass in idm and drum 'n' bass in general. this record falls into a category that i tend to avoid. i'll conduct this review in a comparative manner, using kid 606's _down_with_the_scene_ as a secondary means to explain datach'i's album. i wasn't even sure what/who datach'i was when i picked up _we_are_always_well_. i had only skimmed over a profile of him, and all i picked up is that his music is related to idm or is in fact idm. i was happy to see a release as such available at my local record store, so i lunged for it without much hesitation. however, i wasn't terribly happy to find out that it ran along the same lines as _down_with_the_scene_, an album that i had purchased a month or two earlier and have yet to be impressed with. but after a full listen, i can say that i really like this datach'i record. i think it towers over 606 in that it has set limits. IMO, 606 tends to write songs that are experimental, but aren't thought out (aren't thought out in a bad way, in a bizkitesque way). and he (606) gets praised simply for being difficult. i find that this uncarefully presented youthful spasticity is the reason people like his work; it is the reason i dislike the bulk of his work. and what i mean about datach'i setting limits in his music is that he rocks this punk shit attitude (the whole "fuck you and your eardrums" approach) without getting on your nerves as does an irritable roommate. datach'i makes visible decisions on this record that 606's stuff lacks. largely due to this stability, _we_are_always_well_ is good to the last drop. the unexpectedness comes enthralling rather than as a rabid dog biting your ass and biting it harder if you don't like it. one other point i'd like to make about the album is its dependency on drum 'n' bass to make it fully fleshed. IMO, drum 'n' bass is somewhat of a contagious electronic rash, itching its way through seemingly every genre of dance music (even hip-hop). and every time a genre gets infected with the rash, it becomes more trendy and thus loses value. i've never once noticed an artist become a better musician by experimenting with jungle breaks or spastic d+b cadences. a problem with this is that drum 'n' bass/jungle can no longer stand its ground as a single idea. very few artists coming out now consider themselves "drum 'n' bass," and if they do, they're usually shit. but with datach'i's album, one tends to overlook these biases. true, the release is more or less and experimental drum 'n' bass album. but it is implied in such a way that keeps the record valuable. it's never too silly, never too predictable, never too unoriginal. one thing that discourages me about idm is that so many artists bring d+b to the table, but so few bring honest plain breakbeat type stuff. this is something that datach'i comes close to doing on a few tracks. he threw away most of the d+b elements and kept it down to good ol' 110-bpm experimental breaks (again, on just a few tracks). i'll give him props for that. i'd say this album is the best example of d+b fusion i've heard in quite a while (and that's sayin' a lot, cuz there's simply SO much music coming out these days that hints on d+b). (no conclusion, i'll leave you hangin' on this one) please write harsh responses will simmons Cipolin Structure Radio http://www.geocities.com/cipolinstructure/ _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org