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Jake Slazenger MakesARacket
CLEAR: CLR410CD
Total Racket= 76:50
083 7:00 Megaphonk
111 5:57 Get Up R
120 5:32 Stupid Wanker
155 6:04 Gary's Birthday
092 7:55 Daytime Kiss
099 5:35 Brp
107 5:31 Watt
091 7:24 Flod
094 5:31 Bolus
099 6:46 Feet
135 5:43 Five Alive
121 7:44 Lux
What do you get when you let a guy loose with an Atari and a bunch of
synths? A guy who digs the Detroit Techno Masters, Billy Preston,
Curtis Mayfield, Ralf & Florian as well as having a penchant for chirpy
Sitcom theme songs and cheesey lounge organ jamfests? You get Jake
Slazenger. And Jake knows how to make a racket, as he proves on MP's
debut Clear long player. This one, as all Paradinas' releases to date,
is significantly different than earlier outings. It lacks the sonic
breadth and variety of T n' V or Bluff, but it's hangs together better
than both of those. Although on Clear, it's nowhere near as
electro-drenched as Bantha Trax, but it's 100% better. It doesn't have
the orchestral depth of vs the Auteurs, but it sure is a lot easier to
shake yer booty to. The one thing that grabbed me about this one is
that at least 10 of the 12 trax on CD grabbed me on first listen. Very
hooky, very catchy, no need to concentrate to feel the groove. All in
all, this is good time groove music, perfect sunny day urban sidewalk
walkman fodder.
Megaphonk is the perfect opener for this collection, with a very simple
little ditty that sounds for all the world like it was lifted from a Fat
Albert special or a Sesame Street segment. Sunny skies, people wavin'
at ya, kids playing in fire hydrant spray, it's all here. The loopy
counteroffensive melody winds back up a little tension, but mostly this
one is about cruisin' and having fun. A nice drum break and some
squeaky scratching space it out, but it all folds back into a warm
summer groove with serious crossover potential.
The opening segments of Get Up R would not sound out of place on a
Tresor track, with a hypnotic synth loop and a "Groove" sample that's
attack has been tweaked so hard it's used as a bass upbeat. This
Detroitish spread is the carrier frequency that throughout the piece
supports Mike P. as Pied Piper with a very matter of fact "don't get in
my business" melody line. The melody is repeatedly peeled off in
segements or in toto to reveal the funk foundation, then spun back in
and mutated into chimey overtones and more ominous sounding waveforms.
Heavy drums kick off Stupid Wanker, which then adds a simple Detroit
style triplet, some electro bass pulsation, and a plaintive probing soft
synth over gauze. Danceable, but not really that unique, until MP makes
his eccentric mark with a chorus of muted glissando trombones.
Everytime things start to drop off and wind down, the hardhitting drums
blast it back along.
Gary's Birthday sounds like the double bonus round of Jeopardy on
crystal meth, overlaid with the sequel to Vibes from Tango n' Vectif.
Add the Rephlex hyper-shuffle drums and a trumpet antagonizer and we're
ready for Mike to kick it with one of his patented cheese out synth ad
lib solo leads. It goes on and on, climbing and falling, and it's lame
enough to convince you that you too could be a professional musician,
but it sure adds to that signature u-Ziq sound. Very unsettling and
crazy, in classic MP style.
There's so much sexiness drizzled throughout Daytime Kiss that it had me
convinced I was gonna get laid before the song was over. Opens with
soft sweet melotron as you get the fireplace stoked and the champagne on
ice. Then a rippin' funky snare line wanders in and just gets thicker
and deeper, setting things up for a slow dance bump and grind. The
arrival of fat-ass sub-bass seems to signal that foreplay is no longer
necessary, but then wait a minute, slow down cowboy as the orchestration
downshifts back to the original moist mellow string slab. This one
builds and ebbs very sweetly, and Jake throws in some very tasty
keyboard one-liners throughout. Ends with a teasing, keep you up, line
that leaves one wondering whether the Daytime Kiss was ever consummated.
BRP is built again around potent funky drums and an electro-bass
catalyst. Take this as a foundation and throw in a simple catchy little
jig that you'll find yourself whistling later on in the day, and you've
got a perfect formula for infectous listenening. Mike's soaring lead on
this one brings back visions of Billy Prestons 36" Fro grooving on
American Bandstand, but the soundstage is clearly 90's this time around
Watt opens with pretty crunchy, yet subdued electro bass, a clinky
off-balance percussive frame and a fender rhodes style backing
wallpaper. Lay that out, give Jake some space to noodle around in, and
boogie. It's pretty simple actually.
Flod is kind of like Gary Glitter's "Rock On" set to a very echo-chamber
clang fest backdrop. A flipped out loop which climbs and falls over
itself and some smeared and twisted samples weave into the matrix to
fuel the development of this piece, which revolves around continuously
mutating and overlapping these pieces in differnt ways. Jake works you
up and down the energy levels well throughout this one.
Bolus opens with funky hollow-body strummin' and a rock solid riddim'
section, until the dog whistle synth signals that it's time to get up
out of the chill room, put the platforms and elephant bells on and get
on out on the floor and move it. There's a nice horn section break,
plenty of landscape to try out some of your best moves. Funk with a
capital pH.
Get your Feet into the Beat is the directive served up by this one.
Primarily rhythm section, with some excellent drum programming and a
punchy bass line, but enough meat to sink your bones into to. The
housey samples continuously remind you that this Apollo mothership is
takin' off, so get your feet into the beat and you'll be on board for
the maiden funk voyage.
Five Alive is a bleary eyed confuser, that will madden and incite you in
the way Jake's alter ego Mr. Ziq has proven so proficient at doing.
Multiple layers of sound quickly dog-pile on the smeared out opening
slide-loop, quickly whirling you into a dervish. Although you have a
hard time grasping and holding on to much here other than the mechanical
overdrive bass line, you have no trouble dancing to it. There's a
270BPM wave here too, if you can twitch fast enough to surf it. The
closer climax phrasing is sort of an encouraging, challenging tune,
which when laid over sound and rhythm velcro that dense, gives you the
energy and hope to persevere.
Lux opens with a very Man Machine era Kraftwerkian feel and some
popcornish staccato high pulses. Loop around and come back in the other
side, until we're hopelessly folded back over ourselves. Freeform
painting over the top, courtesy of Mssr. Paradinas. This one's funky,
well-propelled and has ample pop-n-lock space enclosed within it's
walls. Too bad it's over now.
I liked this one a lot from the first listen, as I predict you will too.
My only potential complaint is that it's so cohesive, it's almost too
much of a (same) good thing. The formula doesn't vary much among these
12 pieces, but it works so well, I'm not sure it needs to. The vinyl
has four extra tracks but I'm not sure I need them. There's plenty here
to shake my cage and rattle my tail. Check out Jakes Take on funk for
the 90's, see what all the racket's about.
all rights reserved, all wrongs reversed, 1995.
Jeff Davis ____--~~~~~~vvvv~~~~ oooooo 812.831.7846
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