I ws going to wait a week or so before posting these up but you *need*
the Stasis LP, believe me...
Reviewed:
Stasis : Inspiration (Peace Frog)
Joey Beltram : Game Form (Tresor)
GEN featuring 4E : Electronic Dessert (Mille Plateaux)
[Various] : Otherworld 1 (Otherworld)
Lobe : Placebo (Swim)
Stasis : Inspiration (Peacefrog)
'Lush' seems to be a word that I use practically every time I hear a chord
change in techno these days - a few years ago and anything with hard
beats and a sweeping Korg preset would have sent me into spasms of
pleasure. However, trance soon put this right - German trance holds
copyright I think, on the (ab)use of chord moods and the perversion of
the beautiful for the benefit of yet another cheese ridden breakdown. So
whenever I hear chord patterns used sparingly and in a way that moves
the track on, rather than becoming the focus, its exciting and more
emotional than any obvious, blaring breakdown. So - this is Steve
Pickton's first LP and it is quite possibly one of the best techno long-
players I have ever heard. And as you might expect from the intro to
this review, the keyword here is *LUSH*. But its used in such a refined
and subtle way, that almost every other track I've ever described as
lush, pales by comparison. There are so many accomplished, truly
emotional moments on this record, its well, inspirational. And the beats
push each track on, never becoming the focus and working with the bass and
chords to produce some of the most sublminal techno heard since _Deep
Space_. There's not a duff track on here, and add the moody and yes, lush
sound snippets that are the _Soundfiles_ and you have a collection of
some of the best techno released this year and for the last few years
too. If you love music, you need this album.
Joey Beltram : Game Form (Tresor)
Hard perky techno from Mr. Beltram. Armani turns in typically hard
remix, and Dearborn's is slightly crazier but still minimal as hell. The
original wins though through, sheer funked up simplicity, rather than a
TR-909 turned up to eleven.
GEN featuring 4E : Electronic Dessert (Mille Plateaux)
Those fans of faulty analogue components turn in an LP of lo-fi trip-
hoppy slabs of electronica. The LP is a lot like the Blue H.E.A.D.
material but with less clarity and intense dark swirls of noise. Its a
fair bet that you won't have heard much like this before and for that
reason, its an interesting buy and unlike Locust's own brand of despair
sandwiched between doom and gloom, this has a quiet, understated groove
to it. Well worth checking out and yet another chapter from the prolific
Air Liquide stable.
[Various] : Otherworld 1 (Otherworld)
This is a few months old but is worth hunting down. Four tracks of
electronica by different groups from Steve Pickton's own label. The
obligatory Stasis track is less relaxed than the material on
_Inspiration_ but moves along very nicely indeed - its reminiscent of
B12. Kapellmeister is Mark Broom and his contribution is a shuffling,
moody number that sounds vaguely Black Doggy in parts - its a lot more
listenable than his darker Pure Plastic material, although not as stark.
Flip it over for a Stasis like track by Paul W. Teebrooke (which is
probably better than the Stasis track on this 12" but not as good as the
_Inspirations_ tracks), and a final blast at abstract techno weirdness
from Phenomyna. Despite there being no real standout track, this is
a varied trawl through some of the UKs current underground techno
brigade. The next Otherworld 12" (by Paul W. Teebrooke) has just been
released too...
Lobe : Placebo (Swim)
And in direct contrast to the Otherworld 12" comes this release on the
Swim label. Where as the Otherworld artists have some degree of
originality and still retain a techno sensibility and intelligence, this
12" sounds like a demo disc for a Korg synth. Its devoid of anything
except pseudo-techno sounds (wow, a digitally created filter type effect)
and insipid melodies - it reminds me of those occasionally appalling
'intelligent' ambient readers-demo tracks you find on the CDs that come
free with music technology magazines. The final track _Placebo:_, just
about raises above the level of sheer awfullness by dropping the
polished synth leads for dark beats and disfunctional moods. Still, this
12" remains introverted digital synth wank for people who, if asked who
Juan Atkins was, would probably reply "Doesn't he caddy at our local
golf club?"
|| [CiM]
|| s.walley@uea.ac.uk
||
http://www.sys.uea.ac.uk/~u9323899/