That's right, it's review time. The usual ground rules apply --
these are all my opinions, and should instantly be taken as gospel from
the mountaintop, etc. etc. Please feel free to respond -- nothing is
more gratifying than getting responses to reviews. Except maybe getting
slavering hate-mail -- then I can just sit back and feel faintly superior...
Send all mail, free music, banana shakes and broad-spectrum antiviral
agents to me at jstrick@gladstone.uoregon.edu
Today's agenda:
Freaky Chakra - Lowdown Motivator
Plaid - Clear 409 EP
Aphex Twin - Ventolin CDS
Aphex Twin - I Care Because You Do
Freaky Chakra - Lowdown Motivator (Astralwerks)
9:56 Multiphasic Invoculator
7:16 Big Aura
8:36 Budded In Earth To Bloom In Heaven
8:09 Goodbye
14:07 Peace Fixation (trance mix)
5:32 Tra Vigne
7:31 Halucifuge (blind dive)
10:34 Lightdarklight
Oo-wee! This album really makes me happy, with a mix of trancey
grooves that aren't the usual saccharine-sweet trance but keep you
dancing all night. There's also some more ambient stuff here that, while
not as exciting as the dance tracks, is good stuff through and through.
I've never been all that impressed with the Exist Dance sound because it
never sounded as good at home as it did when I went out, but this works
well as home listening.
The first two tracks are trance fare that flow together. Good
beats, lots of energy here. Budded On Earth... is a more ambient number
with Toni Halliday of Curve on vocals. It works well, which sort of
suprised me. The next track, Goodbye, is just about my favorite. It's
slow and mellow, one of those things that puts chill rooms into drooling
twitches at about 6 am. In fact, that's where I heard it first. Tra
Vigne is short and sweet, with a nice acid line, funky beats and the
endearing quality of knowing when to quit and leave you wanting more. It
runs into Halucifuge, which is another excellent trance track -- it's a
compliment to this album that it doesn't really stand out among
everything else. Finally, Lightdarklight is a long, darker squelchy song
that never really takes off but burbles along at a good clip. Doesn't
really go anywhere, but the ride is fun.
Believe the hype on this one -- this is an excellent album by a
bright light on the US techno scene. Not your average idm fare, this
one's extremely dnaceable and a lot of fun. Highly recommended.
Plaid - Clear 409 EP (Clear)
a 7:02 Android
5:00 Anything
A 8:10 Angry Dolphin
4:40 Yak
Six months ago I still resisted buying a turntable. Now that
I've acquired one, I can listen to gems like this. I haven't heard the
other Clear releases, but the Great Electro Revival never excited me. I
mean, I like electro, and sure it was a huge influence, but, man, it's
*been done*.
This ain't electro. It's, well, Plaid, which is Andy and Ed if
you're keeping score. It sounds enough like Black Dog to keep me
grinning. Android is sorta electro-influenced, but with a Doggish flair,
and it's a nice cut. Anything (the track) could have come off of Spanners.
Angry Dolphin is the jam, with righteous bass and all of these little jungle
breakdowns. I dunno much about jungle, but I'd say that it, as opposed
to electro, was the main influence here. This track kicks. Yak could
have been pulled from Bytes, with all of its synth sweeps and weird
beats. If you like Black Dog, grab this one.
---
"The only way to deal with bureaucrats is with stealth and sudden violence"
-- United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
Jesse Stricker jstrick@gladstone.uoregon.edu