IDM Mailing Archive

1996-01-09 18:46PAUL JARVISVarious - "Blech" (Warp MC40) ----------------------------- Link - "Amazon Amenity" (Chame

From:: PAUL JARVIS <paul.jarvis@bbsrc.ac.uk>
To:: <IDM <idm@hyperreal.com> (Non Receipt Notification Requested) (Reply Requested)>
Date:: Tue, 9 Jan 1996 18:46:31 +0000
Subject:: (idm) Review - Warp Mix Tape "Blech"

Various - "Blech" (Warp MC40) ----------------------------- Link - "Amazon Amenity" (Chameleon Remix) Autechre - "Anvil Vapre Second Peng" Seefeel - "Tied" Nightmares On Wax - "Back Into Time" AFX - "Children Talking" B12 - "Soundtrack Of Space" Plaid - "Yamemm" Richard H. Kirk - "World War 3" Autechre - "Anvil Vapre Second Bad Vilbel" B12 - "Scriptures" Link - "Antacid" (Jedi Knights Mix) DJ Mink - "Hey! Hey! Can You Relate?" Sweet Exorcist - "Clonk Freebase" Close Up Over - "Caz" Nightmares On Wax - "Sal Batardes" Seefeel - "Spangle" LFO - "Tied Up" (Acid Mix) LFO - "Tied UP" (Spiritualized Electric Mainline Mix) Polygon Window - "Bike Pump Meets Bucket" Autechre - "Basscadet" (Taz Mix) Sequenced and mixed by Mr. Strictly. Produced and edited by PC. Devout Warp enthusiasts will find little in the way of new material on this compilation since all the tracks have previously been released by Warp. What they will find though is a diverse cross section of material taken from throughout Warp Records' five year history, juxtaposed and blended (with added snippets from other sources) such that the result is an entity in its own right. "Blech" is worth more than the sum of its parts thanks to the excellent mixing of Mr. Strictly and PC of DJ Food. Meat, potatoes, veg and gravy taken individually are all very nice indeed. Put them together and let them mingle for an hour or so in the oven, however, and the resulting stew is even better! Of course, the appeal of "Blech" is not restricted to those who already have all the ingredients. On the contrary, this tape is the ideal introduction to the Warp Records idea (dance music with an intelligent edge you can listen to) and exceptional art for anyone prepared to listen with an open mind. "Blech" is a blend of disparate musical styles which have been carefully combined so that all abide happily under the same roof. Genres included are jungle (Link and AFX), electro (Jedi Knights), techno (LFO), rap (DJ Mink), ambient (B12, Seefeel), industrial (Autechre) and of course the genre that Warp themselves invented - "Artificial Intelligence" listening music. Stand-out tracks are Link's dance floor stonker "Amazon Amenity," Richard H. Kirk's amazing "World War 3," B12's "Scriptures" (the jewel in the crown of the excellent "Artificial Intelligence II" compilation) and, of course, the jazzed-up funk classic "Caz" by Close Up Over (alias Black Dog). Out now. Cassette format only. ________________________________________________________________________ s e n d c d s f o r r e v i e w t o : ____ ____ ______________________ ||||\\ //|||| ___ ////////////////////// |||| \\// |||| ||// \\ ///// |||| |||| |||. ____ ///// Paul Jarvis, \\\\\ ///// John Innes Centre, \\\\\ ///// Norwich Research Park, jarvisr@bbsrc.ac.uk \\\\\// Colney, Norwich NR4 7UH, England, United Kingdom. ________________________________________________________________________

1996-01-09 22:26Rex C. Arthur> "Blech" is worth more >than the sum of its parts thanks to the excellent mixing of Mr. S

From:: Rex C. Arthur <arthur@voyagerco.com>
To:: <idm@hyperreal.com>
Date:: Tue, 9 Jan 1996 17:26:07 -0500
Subject:: Re: (idm) Review - Warp Mix Tape "Blech"

quoted 5 lines "Blech" is worth more

> "Blech" is worth more >than the sum of its parts thanks to the excellent mixing of Mr. Strictly >and PC of DJ Food. Meat, potatoes, veg and gravy taken individually are >all very nice indeed. Put them together and let them mingle for an hour >or so in the oven, however, and the resulting stew is even better!

i'd like to know what others think of this tape, because i wasn't all that impressed. i thought that the mixing was acceptable, but nothing out of the ordinary. what really annoyed me was their misguided use of samples. it sounds like they just threw a bunch of movie samples over the songs (almost as if they thought the songs weren't interesting enough on their own) and it really sounds cumbersome to me. the music and the samples sound like two totally seperate elements that don't have anything to do with each other. i realize that everything can't match the coldcut JDJ, but this mixtape did not live up to my expectations.

1996-01-10 12:18James SkiltonRex C. Arthur wrote on Tue, 09 Jan 96 22:26:07 GMT : > i'd like to know what others think

From:: James Skilton <JAMESS@firefox.co.uk>
To:: <Rex "C." Arthur <arthur@voyagerco.com>>, <idm@hyperreal.com>
Date:: Wed, 10 Jan 96 12:18:00 GMT
Subject:: Re: (idm) Review - Warp Mix Tape "Blech"
Reply to:: Re: (idm) Review - Warp Mix Tape "Blech"

Rex C. Arthur wrote on Tue, 09 Jan 96 22:26:07 GMT :

quoted 9 lines i'd like to know what others think of this tape, because i wasn't all that

> i'd like to know what others think of this tape, because i wasn't all that > impressed. i thought that the mixing was acceptable, but nothing out of the > ordinary. what really annoyed me was their misguided use of samples. it > sounds like they just threw a bunch of movie samples over the songs (almost > as if they thought the songs weren't interesting enough on their own) and > it really sounds cumbersome to me. the music and the samples sound like two > totally seperate elements that don't have anything to do with each other. i > realize that everything can't match the coldcut JDJ, but this mixtape did > not live up to my expectations.

I thought the mixing was OK, there are so many diverse styles of music that at times it sounds rather awkward, but at other times it is excellent. It is worth pointing out that almost all the samples are also culled from WARP releases. That doesn't address whether their use was misguided, but does explain the situation somewhat. J ^ _ _ __ __ __ __ ____ __ __ the ( `'`' / /. \ |. ) |. ) ( ( /_ _| /. ) |. ) \_/\_/ (__\_| |__\ |_| |__) /_| \___| |__\

(idm) Review - Warp Mix Tape "Blech"