OK, people.
i have to get LOUD here. i can't take it.
darrell deserve some major PROPS...so i've
got to do it...
i dug these reviews up from the ASG archives. please,
keep in mind that they were all written at different
times, so if i keep mentioning that DARRELL FITTON
IS ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED ARTISTS of our time....
well than so be it. it's about time this lad got
some fucking props damnit!
i don't give a fuck if he's on a major label or not...
i just want MORE from this man. his new album is
going to be THE shite....hard, funky, jazzy...JUST YOU
WAIT....he's going to knock you all on your arses
with this one. ok, on to the reviews (ska 5, mask 2,
skampler, 0161)....
asg
* * *
Bola : Bola 1 EP : 12" : Skam (SKA 005)
Interesting 4-track ep from Darrell Fitton, who collaborated
on Gescom 1. Forcasa 3 begins the Fitton experiment with an
ambient tune that quickly evolves into some what of an
atmospheric piece. The sounds are not all that new, but it
is a movement with an uplifting message. Krak Jakomo (my
clear-cut FAVE) digs deeper and really paints a dark canvas
of eerie soundscapes and beat structures. A twisting, clanking,
tinkering stew that just sits on the cauldron and gets BETTER
with age. At times almost roaring (literally, like the sound of
lions!), Krak storms through the mind and leaves the brain
feeling RAW. Oh baby, this is raw, intelligent techno at its
best. Kudos on this one, albeit for the cut-off ending.
Metalurg 2 builds on a more random tone, not exactly dark.
A collection of sounds, each with its own agenda it seems.
Somewhat monotonous. Balloom takes you back to the dark
side, via a time-warp it seems! There's some grating
percussion going on, along with a slew of other hooks and
twists. Definitely dramatic. Overall, a slab of vintage
Skam material. Not as refined as Boards or Jega but worthy
of any techno collection.
Bola : [untitled track from Mask 2, personally i think it's
another take on Balloom from the Skam ep...either way, this
tune KICKS MAJOR ARSE....ok read on...]
Within a few seconds of initiation, a viciously evil bassline
from the depths of the darkest cavern infiltrates and takes
firm grasp of your attention. A devastating horror begins to
build as a few twisting, all-enveloping (everything except that
wickedly evil bassline! ouch!) synth patterns (some disguised
as galactic signals, the others closer to submarine pings --
all eerie as fuck) trickle into the system. however, what you
have been introduced to (in the first 3 minutes) cannot prepare
you for the angular assault that is to follow...
enter: a seethingly endless array of sliding, shearing, pelting
(need i say aggressive?) slabs of linear distortion programmed
with a single, mindless agenda: seek and destroy till there's
nothing left! it's that simple. simple, yet so fucking effective.
an entrancing tune with some serious TEETH. rock on darrell!
Bola : Cobalt
I am sorry, but Jega may be the stud of the Skam clan (hell, ska006
was #1 in my book too), but Darrell Fitton must win the most
underrated award. This tune just submerges you down to the bottom of
the blackest pit imaginable...or is it a cobalt blue abyss? Regardless,
it's DEEP and there is not a speck of hope in sight. Evil droning,
sparse key rhythms, and some sputtering percussion put the mood
somewhere between desperate and exploratory. Twisting and turning,
but always evolving and enveloping (get a load of that aural
ASSAULT at 4.14!!) it seems. I'm in awe over this one as it is
one of the true jewels of the exclusives.
Bola : 01706
Oh my goodness me...Darrell Fitton! What have you done to us? You've
faked us out yet again, this time kicking some wicked jazz our way.
From his tracks for Skam and the Mask 2 EP (all very heavy, hard and
almost sinister...but too fucking brilliant for this parenthetical
note), you wouldn¹t think it probable for this man to supply us with
such an outright groovalicious tune! The key word here being
"probable"....I didn't say "not possible." Sure, he gets nasty (but in
a good way) with some mid-tune riffs of steel and quirky ambience, but
overall this track¹s got "jive" written all over it. Brilliant and one
of the best tunes from 0161.