INTELLIGENT DANCE MUSIC TIMES V1.10
Up Above The World: Trying To Reach You
Exist Dance ED 011
138 ?:?? Trying To Reach You
138 ?:?? Trying To Reach Sawaan
Up Above The World is the Exist Dance label's acid trance project.
Whereas the last one was a straightahead acid and melody affair, this
time they've beefed up the mix with all sorts of surreal looping
noises. On the "Sawaan" side there's monks and a strong bass
countered by a 303 beeping along in a totall different key. I prefer
the "Trying To Reach You" version which has lots of interesting cut-up
vocal sounds and ends with a truly bizarre symphony of out of time
loops, ala Public Enemy. This record isn't for everyone, but those
who take the time to learn its intricacies will never be the same
again...
Fuse: Dimension Intrusion
Wax Trax!/TVT TVT 7208-2
96 3:52 A New Day
129 7:44 F.U.
100 3:16 Slac
130 4:02 Dimension Intrusion
125 5:07 Substance Abuse
142 6:41 Train-Trac.1
131 6:20 Another Time (Revisited)
125 13:26 Theychx
125 8:04 Uva
132 8:00 Mantrax
3:28 Nitedrive
5:02 Into The Space
1:13 Logikal Nonsense
I have to say that overall I've been pretty disappointed with Warp
Records' "Artificial Intelligence" series. Polygon Window was pretty
good, but Black Dog and B12 really tested my patience. My initial
reaction to Fuse (number 5 in the series) was one of disinterest - it
sounds nice but is fairly unremarkable. The title track is a perfect
example - pretty melody, nice rhythm programming, nothing annoying
about it but it doesn't stand out either. Ten seconds after it ends
you can't remember anything about it. And for a series that touts
itself as "electronic listening music", a lot of this stuff is just
too boring to listen to - it would work much better on a dance floor
where you can pass of repetition and minimalism as "trancy."
Richie Hawtin obviously has his heart in the right place - the ghosts
of Derrick May and Carl Craig hover over this recording like guardian
angels - but I just can't help feeling that he could have done more
with the Detroit formula. Which brings us to the *next* offering in
the AI Series...
Speedy J: Ginger
+8 8025
130 7:15 Ginger
134 2:10 Fill 4
118 5:43 R2D2
132 4:07 Fill 14
133 1:20 Jackpot
128 7:34 Basic Design
116 7:37 Perfect Pitch
130 5:40 Flashback
132 3:41 Fill 15
125 6:42 Pepper
125 5:39 Beam Me Up!
115 6:13 Spikkels
After the crushing disappointment of Fuse, the AI Series gets back on
its feet with a wonderful outing from Speedy J (real name Jochem
Paap). Unlike his hard tracks of old, this kinder, gentler Paap has
filled "Ginger" with beautiful trance tracks and some lovely ambient
breaks as well. My favorite track has to be "R2D2" which - thank god
- does NOT feature R2D2 from the movies in any way, shape or form.
Instead, it has a lovely melody arranged over a gentle CR78 drum track
and some startling additional sounds. Really good stuff. "Jackpot"
is a great little explosion in the Kraftwerk factory - pity it's so
short. Other standouts are the slow and groovy "Perfect Pitch", "Beam
Me Up!" which is just loaded with Wavestation vocal hits, and
"Spikkels" which has a funky breakbeat. There are a few bum moments
where Paap slips into boring standard-issue trance, but fortunately
the surrounding high quality material makes these lapses easy to forgive.
Note: the track times on the back of the jewel box are often
incorrect. The ones listed above are accurate as far as my Technics
SL-XP2 is concerned.
Ultramarine: United Kingdoms
Sire/Giant 9 24528-2
130 5:35 Source
110 4:52 Kingdom
122 5:45 Queen Of The Moon
102 4:40 Prince Rock
114 4:46 Happy Land
110 4:44 Urf
100 8:53 English Heritage
2:27 Instant Kitten
96 5:59 The Badger
93 4:50 Hooter
113 8:01 Dizzy Fox
73 4:50 No Time
This is a strange little beast. Filled with programmed rhythms,
resonating synths and tons of real instruments, it's a sort of folk
music for the new electronic school. Keeping up with the
"resurrecting old hippies" mentality (cf. Orb/Steve Hillage), they've
dredged up Robert Wyatt from somewhere and let him do his patented
vocal warblings on a few tracks. Personally, I can't stand him, but
that's not Ultramarine's fault - I've never liked him. Unfortunately,
the bits where they are on their own aren't exactly inspiring either.
I liked "Every Man And Woman Is A Star" - the melodies had a lazy
drift that reminded one of late summer evenings. Unfortunately,
"United Kingdoms" has abandoned those memorable tunes in favor of
pseudo-jazzy meanderings that, at best, go nowhere and, at worst, are
highly irritating. I cannot recommend this album.
Futurhythms
Medicine 9 24502-2
125 4:18 Leftfield: Song Of Life (Radio Edit)
130 6:55 Jungle High: Samurai (Fire Of Love)
129 5:57 Moby: Patients
122 6:51 Zexos: Angel Of Love (Dub Pylon Mix)
127 6:22 Young American Primitive: Young American Primitive (Angel's Hand)
133 6:32 The Tripp: LSD (Trippy Tribal Trance Dub)
130 5:29 Q.B.N.Z.: A Great New Adventure (Trance Instrumental)
143 6:27 Sven Vath: An Accident In Paradise
136 4:52 Ohm: Tribal Tone (Ruffneck Mix)
145 6:00 The Prodigy: Wind It Up (Forward Wind Mix)
150 5:49 Futurhythm: Butoh
130 5:58 Eskimos & Egypt: Fall From Grace (Free Me Mix)
Finally the major US labels are waking up to the possibilities of
*good* techno compilations. Oh, they're only, what, 3 years late?
Never mind - this one makes up for the lateness with some kicking
tracks. Leftfield is old news. Jungle High is a rockin' number with
a lovely propulsive bass. Moby surprised the hell out of me -
"Patients" is the best thing he's done in ages - wonderful trance with
some ethnic percussion for flavor. Zexos weighs in with some lovely
bass-heavy swirliness. Young American Primitive finally gets the
national attention he deserves. And on and on it goes... I liked just
about everything on this comp, with the predictable exception of The
Prodigy. Oh, OK, Futurythm didn't really float my boat either. But
hey, not a bad ratio, especially for something with a nice domestic
price tag...
Jon Drukman jdrukman%dlsun87@oracle.com
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This calls for a very special blend of psychology and extreme violence.