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freeke reviews #8
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give me credit. If you reprint them in a publication, please
consider sending a copy to the address at the bottom.
This was supposed to go out in December. It didn't.
There ought to be another one of these coming soon,
but if it takes another 3 months don't say I didn't
warn you, 'kay?
this time
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Spanners (CD) - The Black Dog (Warp)
Amber (CD) - Autechre (WaxTrax!/TVT)
Classics (CD) - The Aphex Twin (R&S)
Sea Biscuit (CD) - Spacetime Continuum (Astralwerks)
Mu-Ziq vs. the Auteurs (CD) (Hut/Astralwerks)
Elements of and Experiments With Sound (CD) - Various (Planet E)
Spatial Specific - Legion of Green Men (+8)
Dummy (CD) - Portishead (Go!/London Discs)
Growth (EP) - Jeff Mills (Axis)
Dark Energy (Double EP) - Suburban Knight (UR)
Escape Ventures (EP) - Sons of the Subway (Infonet)
Sorcery/Bewitched/Bewitching (EP) - Giannelli (Telepathic)
Premonition (EP) - Deneuve (Telepathic)
Kooky Scientist (EP) - The Kooky Scientist (+8)
Spike / Live at Jimmy's (EP) - Octaves/Tremelos/BUaRP (+8)
Texel / Ameland (EP) - C/Sphere (Telepathic)
Bass Magnetic (Double EP) - Aux 88 (430 West)
Aux Quadrent (EP) - Aux 88 (Direct Beat/430 West)
Dopplereffekt (7") - Dopplereffekt (label unlisted)
Namlook VII: Subharmonic Interference (CD) - Pete Namlook (FAX)
Seasons Greetings: Autumn (CD) - Pete Namlook (FAX)
Dark Side of the Moog (CD) - Pete Namlook & Klaus Schulze (FAX)
The Sinking Of The Titanic (CD) - Gavin Bryars (Point)
--
Spanners (CD) - The Black Dog (Warp)
Outside of a few stunning cuts (like "Object Orient" and "Cost
II") Black Dog's previous full-length albums _Bytes_ and
_Temple_ did very little for me -- the lack of cohesion and
seeming contrivance of their disjointed rhythms always kept me
from really getting into the records: they always felt like a
few strong singles glued together with tape snippets of
malfunctioning power equipment. I always felt their work was
much stronger on their EPs.
Allow me, then, to completely abase myself before the altar of
the Dog and beg forgiveness. This record _works_ -- the tripped
out rhythms are seamlessly integrated with beautiful melodies,
as on the sublime "Pot Noodle", the acidic prayer chant
"Psil-Cosyin", and wistfully warbling "Further Harm". This
record is so far out in front of anything else I've heard lately
that it's almost scary. A must buy. If this _does_ turn out to
be their swan song, they've gone out on top.
--
Amber (CD) - Autechre (WaxTrax!/TVT)
I usually think it's a bit of a copout for a reviewer to say "if
you like/hate their other stuff you'll like/hate this". Well,
I'm saying it. :) Autechre's tracks are more like state
machines than compositions -- given a set of inputs, they
progress to a logical equilibrium, and stay there until it's
time for the fade-out. This approach really leaves no room for
waffling; chances are if a cut doesn't wow you in the first
thirty seconds it's not going to do it at all.
I go for it in a big way, but if you thought _Incunabula_ was
unbearably tedious, stay away. Anyway, the noises (clanking,
crunching, whirring, metallic...) are as wonderful as ever: low
BPM syncopation for your listening pleasure. Tracks like
"Teartear", "Nine", and "Foil" are as good as anything they've
ever done. On some level though, it lacks something. I still
can't help feeling that these guys have the potential to make a
truly classic record, but I can't tell what's missing -- the
thrill of randomness, perhaps? Oh, and the cover photo is
gorgeous.
--
Classics (CD) - The Aphex Twin (R&S)
Cast your mind way back -- before the silly interviews, before
the trainspotting, before the inevitable (and inevitably
tiresome) backlash... and you have the tracks -- low-fi as hell,
these tracks rock hard ("Flaphead"), otherworldly ("Phlange
Phace", "Dodeccaheedron"), cheesy ("Tamphex"), crazy
("Isopropanol"), anthemic ("Digeridoo"), stately ("Analogue
Bubblebath I"), and just plain perfect ("Polynomial-C"). For the
first time in a long while (and the first time ever on CD, for
most of them) you can walk down to your corner record shop and
pick up all of these tracks for a reasonable amount of money.
Be happy.
--
Sea Biscuit (CD) - Spacetime Continuum (Astralwerks)
Um... I wanted to like this. I've enjoyed Jonah Sharp's work
with Pete Namlook - his bleepy burbles play well off of
Namlook's space fetish. I've been eager to hear how his material
would sound without Terrence "Don't Call Me Emo" McKenna's nasal
whine on top (cf. the grating _Alien Dreamtime_ from '93).
Despite a few enjoyable moments (particularly "Ping Pong" and
"Floatilla"), there's far to much whooshing and faffing about
for me to really be engaged by this, and the sugary melodies are
a definite turn off. Without the bouncy electro-derived
percussion found in Sharp's better work, it just doesn't do
anything for me. As the old saying goes, there's just no THERE
there. No thanks.
--
Mu-Ziq vs. the Auteurs (CD) (Hut/Astralwerks)
Absolutely mad. The now familiar formula of pairing an English
indie rock band with and IDM nutter (or two) pays off big
dividends once again. Well, it works on four out of the six
cuts...
Track one borrows a single word ("VALENTINO!") from the chorus
of the original track and takes off around it with ominous
blasts of white noise drums and portentious chords -- taut and
menacing.
Track two is the sublime subliminal wonder. Spoogingly gorgeous
strings and acoustic guitar are all that's left of the original
track, carefully draped over a completely deranged melange of
chukking wood blocks, blasts of white noise, a sampled voice
grunting "baby baby" in some time signature beamed in directly
from Venus or something. It's always a delight when something
this weird works.
Track three drops full-on corpone banjos over submarine bass
hits and those trademark Mu-Ziq distorted FM drums. The end
result falls somewhere between Hee Haw and Analogue Bubblebath
I. If you can hack the cheezy histrionics it'll take you on a
trip. I, for one, am intrigued.
Track four once again drops strings and guitar over a skippy /
funky / noisy drum track, and to good effect. Track five,
unforunately, submerges all melody and detail in a turgid miasma
of sub-gothic low tempo plodding, and the percussion isn't
creative enough to sustain interest. Track six abuses a nagging
calliope melody, and, as on track 5,the percussion falls short.
But hey, you've still got tracks 1-4 for the autorepeat button
on your player...
--
Elements of and Experiments With Sound (CD) - Various (Planet E)
One of the things that makes Planet E one of my favorite labels
is that all the releases fit a definite aesthetic without having
the same sound -- what distinguishes the label is the overall
quality, rather than adherence to a given style. Many chances
are taken, and there's really not a dud here.
This followup to 1992's excellent _Intergalactic Beats_
compilation is a worthy successor. What's most exciting is that
this is predominantly unknown talent. Rubbing shoulders with
known names like Paperclip People (Carl Craig) and Quadrant
(Basic Channel) are new artists like Mode Selector, New Signal,
and Enhanced, along with artists like Connection Machine and
Chris Hani who aren't well-known yet but ought to be. A petri
dish full of pleasure!
--
Dummy (CD) - Portishead (Go!/London Discs)
It's got vocals on every track. The single is being played on
the local top 40 stations. The lyrics and downbeat vibe verge
on hide-the-razors depressiveness. I don't care, it's goddamned
_gorgeous_. The Portishead sound is built around low-res
samples, slo-mo hip hop beats, and Beth Gibbons' quavering
voice. Works well as a reminder that now and the radio plays the
hell out of something that really deserves it.
--
Spatial Specific (CD) - Legion of Green Men (+8)
The debut full-length release from Burlington, Ontario's Legion
of Green Men is a complete delight, from the cool op-art cover
to the weird and wonderful tracks inside the package. The
collection is roughld divided into halves, with the first part
containing the more upbeat, dancier tracks. The sound here is
swirly and bleepy, perhaps reminiscent of Telepathic, only much
funkier. A good example is "Mosaic Eye", which pairs swirly
arpeggiation with a straight up rolling bassline and syncopated
drums -- an admirable marriage of strastospherics and
body-rocking. "Synaptic Response (faculties of cognition)"
throws bleeps around a swinging rhythm, while "Veneration of the
Goddess" has a bit of west-coast feel.
The second half of the album takes off in the ambient,
direction, and does so in fine style. "Extended Shadows" layers
textured resonant lead string and vocal sounds, picking up a
very whacked rhythm line (sorry, anti-beat snobs) later in the
piece. Other tracks, like "Ashes Rolling Over (still or nearly
still)" have a vaguely FAX-y feel, but LGM make the elements
their own.
--
Growth (EP) - Jeff Mills (Axis)
What a great title for this EP -- like one of those fractal
ferns, Mills' compositions swirl upon themselves, with close
attention revealing more and more detail the harder you listen.
The opening track is (surprise, surprise) deceptively simple: an
oscillating four-note figure that swings back and forth over a
trademark Mills galloping rhythm. Simple, that is, until you
realize that the melody and rhythm are running at subtly
different tempos from each other, going in and out of phase. The
second track is even sneakier -- it's based around a tinkling
little space music figure that cycles over a rhythm track that
builds in speed and volume before ending in a perfectly clean
locked groove (the first time I played it took me 5 minutes to
realize the cartridge had stopped moving).
--
Dark Energy (Double EP) - Suburban Night (Underground Resistance)
After too long of an absence, the Suburban (K)Night returns with
a nice double EP on UR. "Midnite Sunshine" merges wistful
searching tones, remiscent of the more contemplative Red Planet
material, with a booming underpinning of big bass drums.
"Acid Africa"'s intricate electro rhythm track and 303 work
bear the obvious marks of Mad Mike, while "Atomic Witchdokta"
sports what almost sounds like a funk guitar scratching over
a dense, tribalesque backing.
--
Escape Ventures (EP) - Sons of the Subway (Infonet)
I've been told this is a Bandalu alias. Anyway, I like it tons.
The first track, "Who's to Blame" is the best of the lot. It
kicks a tuff 4/4 on top of a rolling, shifting breakbeat with
a nice flutey lead line careering over the top.
The second track, "Quick to Blame", is a straight drum and bass
reworking of "Who's to Blame" that drops the kick drum for a
more traditional jungle approach. The two tracks on the B-Side
sound almost like a Carl Craig tribute, with jazzy breaks
underneath clipped up housy vocal samples.
--
Sorcery/Bewitched/Bewitching [PSI 015] (EP) - Giannelli (Telepathic)
Premonition [PSI 016] (EP) - Deneuve (Telepathic)
Kooky Scientist (EP) - The Kooky Scientist (+8)
Fred G. is a busy guy, isn't he? My favorite of these three
releases is "Sorcery". As on Giannelli's best work, he
combines an experimental acid sensibility of a knowledge of
what works on the dancefloor. The two versions of
"Preminition" on the EP of the same name stake out housier
territory, but are less memorable. The "Kooky Scientist" EP, as
the name implies, falls on the more experimental side of things,
with strange burbles and hiccuping rhythms galore.
--
Spike / Live at Jimmy's (EP) - Octaves/Tremelos / BUaRP (+8)
Born Under a Rhyming Planet's "Analog:Heaven" EP from '93
is still one of my favorite 12"'s, so I was eager to hear
this release. I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed at
all. This EP, a collaboration with Industrial Strength
artist John Selway, has a completely different sound
from that earlier release, but it's just as layered and
deep. "Spike" is a whirlwind of pounding kicks,
funked up breaks, and whistling melodies. "Live
At Jimmy's" is, as the title implies, a looser
improvisational piece with a strong jazz feel in the
chordings and voice choices, set over a jungle-y rhythmic
backing.
--
Texel / Ameland [PSI 014] (EP) - C/Sphere (Telepathic)
"Texel" is swirly, and meditative, and reminds me a bit of last year's
"Microset Morning" EP. Towards the end it evolves into soft acid, with
the 303 mixed oddly far back in the track. Even better is "Ameland" on
the flip, which has a warmer sound and an effective, bouncy rhythm track,
and do I detect a slight Jeff Mills influence in the string sounds here?
--
Bass Magnetic (Double EP) - Aux 88 (430 West)
Aux Quadrent (EP) - Aux 88 (Direct Beat/430 West)
Have the electro threads on IDM piqued your interest?
The grooves are cut wide and deep for maximum frequency response
[i.e. your Jeep will quake ;)]. This is the real stuff, delivered
with a passion and without the self-consciousness that
tinges a lot of the other "electro revival" material, straight
out of Detroit's east side, where the sound never died.
Both EP's cut with no-nonsense, straight up techno funk -- swinging
precision whipcrack snares, subsonic reverbing bass tones, and
the occasional vocodered vocals. Isolationists run away, run
away! :)
--
Dopplereffekt (7") - Dopplereffekt (label unlisted)
Is this Drexciya, going even more incognito than usual? Nobody
knows, but I can tell you it kicks like Secretariat on crystal
meth. These cuts are 3-4 minutes short so there's no time for
playing around: the A-side track (with a Cyrillic title I won't
try to reproduce here) blasts through with a flood of syncopated
burbles and a _nasty_ bouncing snare. Before you catch your
breath the B-side, "Cellular Phone", comes barreling in with
funky whipcrack drums and some suspiciously aquatic sounds, if
you know what I mean. A corker -- grab one if you can, not many
were pressed.
--
Namlook VII: Subharmonic Interference (CD) - Pete Namlook (FAX)
Seasons Greetings: Autumn (CD) - Pete Namlook (FAX)
Dark Side of the Moog (CD) - Pete Namlook & Klaus Schulze (FAX)
_Seasons Greetings: Autumn_ has got to be just about the toughest
record I've ever tried to review. There is really so little
going on here that I got angry at the disc the first time I
listened to it. For about the first 2/3 of the disc, the only
sounds are some heavily reverbed processed strings and vague
whooshing noises. I listened a few more times to see if I was
missing something. Not really. Then, before going to bed a few
nights later I took some NyQuil to help subdue a nasty cold, and
put the disc on to help me off to slumberland... and something
happened. Suddenly the record, in all it's nonexistent
splendor, started to work for me. The spaces between the
twanging, the icy whooshing wind, and the ominous buildup at the
end all work according to a peculiar logic that only exists
inside the piece.
_Subharmonic Interference_, Mr. Kuhlmann's 7th live solo disc,
was an instant hit at Chateau Marmoset. All the best elements
of Namlook's solo work are in evidence -- severe analog
tweakery, subsonic bass tricks, and subtle, skittering beats.
As others have noted, he pulls off the delicate juggling of
prepared segments and live improvisation with aplomb. The "Black
Hole" samples and Macintosh "Plaintalk" bits work well within
the spacy surroundings, too.
_Dark Side of The Moog_ was slightly disappointing, because it doesn't
really feel like a collaboration. Klaus Schulze dominates the sound, and
it feels like perhaps Namlook was perhaps a bit overawed to find himself
working with someone who so obviously was a huge influence on him. The
record is good as a Klaus Schulze album, but as a collaboration it falls a
bit short. I was secretly hoping for another stunner like _From Within_ or
_Dreamfish_.
--
The Sinking Of The Titanic (CD) - Gavin Bryars (Point)
The little sticker on the cover of this disc reads "infinitely
ambient", and boy, did they get that right. It's actually a
case of clever marketing -- Bryars is a "serious" minimalist
composer who has been making quiet, subtle experimental music
since the 1960's. This is a new recording of a piece he
originally conceived over 20 years ago. What if the band that
was playing on the deck of the Titanic had continued playing
after the ship slipped beneath the waves? This work attempts to
answer the question. A string quartet plays variations upon an
Episcopal hymn, along with various electronic treatments and
choral additions. The overall effect is quite haunting and
infinitely sad.
--
NASA Select's coverage of the Astro-2 Mission (Cable TV/ Satellite)
I just wanted to spread the word here about the coolest video
accompaniment I've found yet for IDM listening. NASA has a
television network dedicated to showing clips from space
missions, educational programming, and the like. During shuttle
missions, they show tons of downlinked video, including gorgeous
shots of the Earth from space and the like. Many of the records
reviewed above were listened to while NASA Select worked its
magic (with the sound turned down.)
--
Send all hatemail/free records to:
_
freeke
c/o dave walker
p.o. box 271
lincoln park, mi 48146-0271
-----------------------------------------------------------------
dave walker, detroit art services _
marmoset@msen.com absolutely sweat, marie
<A HREF="
http://www.msen.com/~marmoset/">Dave Walker</A>