IDM Mailing Archive

quoted 6 lines Let me add another name onto that list--

>Let me add another name onto that list-- > >MC Solaar. Not IDM, but oh boy, does that dude throw down some SERIOUS >grooves. can't understand a word he's saying, but it sounds great anyway. > >my $.02

Very tasty indeed! I generally can't endure rap, but this is so laid-back that it's a pleasure. The music is some hybrid of trip-hop and acid jazz, smoooth and funky, and very on. Any rapper who quotes Baudelaire can't be all bad, in my book. You can't really call it rap any more than you can call Tricky rap. In fact, Solaar is more laid back than Tricky, and without the paranoia. French music scene is quite interesting in general. Difficult to find any of the material here in the U.S., other than pure pop or cabaret songs. Whenever in Europe, I always stock up on the latest interesting French releases. As for the Art of France comp, I did buy this in the U.S., but mail-order. I believe from CDNow, if memory serves. HIghly recommended. Truly intelligent dance music. That is, it's actually dancefloorfriendly without reducing your IQ. On the more acid-jazzy trip, check out a comp widely available in the U.S. called "Paris Groove Up". It's more distantly related to idm, but those whose tastes cross over into acid jazz will probably enjoy it. Au revoir, 3

While we're on the subject of France, could someone comment on Scan X? I've been quite curious about his stuff for a while, but have been reluctant to take the (expensive) plunge. Thanks, Ashok

On Tue, 28 Jan 1997, Ashok Divakaran <adivakaran@worldbank.org> wrote:

quoted 3 lines While we're on the subject of France, could someone comment on

> While we're on the subject of France, could someone comment on > Scan X? I've been quite curious about his stuff for a while, > but have been reluctant to take the (expensive) plunge.

_Chroma_ (F Communications) is excellent. intelligently crafted techno, full of nuances and subtleties. always finds its way back onto the deck. the 4OTMFF is kept to a minimum, though some tracks ("Dust," "Grey Lights") have a nice Detroit/House new-complexity vibe to them. Stephane Dri mixes things up well, most of the cuts are in the tolerable 3-5 minute range (a rarity indeed!) and there's a little of everything; hyper-percussive workouts ("Voodoo"), trance-expansive 808 waves ("Secrets"), Force, Inc-ish hard vibes ("Earthquake"), Gas-eous cyberplasmic ambience ("Turmoil") and back again - several times! Dri stirs up some really gorgeous melodies; he easily ranks up there with Stasis, Hannant, BDP, and Slater for pure listening pleasure. file with Sun Electric and System7 (sans guitar), Ladomat2000 gear maybe even with your Biochip-C, Unit Moebius, and Drexciya. a lot of names, but there's a lot of stuff going on here. indulge me. GuerillaG2-G4/ gman2@sprynet.com

On Tue, 28 Jan 1997, Zenon M. Feszczak wrote: o}>MC Solaar... <snip> o}You can't really call it rap... you're right. but you can call it hip-hop. not trip-hop, not acid jazz, straight up hip-hop. you don't need to give it another name to admit you like it. "hip-hop will rock and shock the nation" - method man r|b|s