Opinions on SAW-II, Diversions, Juno Reactor (short)
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These are all *first impressions* of recent IDM purchases. I really
don't care if these have been reviewed to death. You read the subject
line, didn't you? :-)
1) Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works II: The Bored Years
Okay. Every great artist has his Magnus Opus. This is not it. Maybe
I'm just not into this 'ambient' thing. The Orb concert bored me. I
didn't like Mixmaster Morris's ambient CD (Flying High? Something like
that). So, SAW-II had a disadvantage right off the bat, I admit. But,
hey, I *LOVED* the first SAW CD. I can't stop playing it! This one is
very hit-and-miss. Ranges from "boring and annoying" to "less annoying"
to "yeah, that sounds like Richard I guess." Richard James has an
incredible talent for mind-blowing rhythm and bass lines. I look at
this ambient stuff as an experiment -- or maybe he just turned off the
rhythm tracks for half the album!! :-) BTW: The best songs are the
ones with rhythm tracks, IMHO.
BTW: Was your S.A.W.II a three-CD set with a gatefold cover?
2) Orbital - Diversions
Decent EP. I criticize much of my own music for being too long. I
would levy that same criticism on several of the cuts from this CD.
It's pretty good Orbital material. I like 'Planet of the Shapes'
better, frankly. It's always nice to hear what other producers
can do to a song. I like these kind of EP's for that reason.
This one is worth buying, but I wish I had bought the second
full-length CD (Orbital 2?) instead. Almost any Orbital is worth
buying, though. They're a great band -- one of the most memorable
live acts I've seen in years. Little headlights bobbing up and
down in the fog, incredible live mixes, wow! Simple and effective.
3) Juno Reactor - Transmissions
Great band. It's got some variation - not just 10 versions of the
same song. Great production values. This one hit me and held my
attention. I'd like to hear it on a big P.A. system. This one is
going to get played a lot, I can tell.
Oh, about the S.A.W. three-CD set: Ha! Made you look! :-) :-)