! Armchair DJ Review - Techno Unit 32: Misc. Tracks !
Larry Kucharz
CD, International Audiochrome, USA, 2001
On "Audiochrome," his previous foray into electronic dance-music structures,
modern classical musician Larry Kucharz stuck closely to a purist techno
blueprint, both exploiting and corrupting the original Detroit ideal. On
"Techno Unit 32: Misc. Tracks," the New York-based composer-turned-producer
dabbles in a wider range of dance-derived styles, creating an album whose
variety and tempos prove daunting but whose best tracks marry steely
intellect to spartan beauty.
On the first half of "Misc. Tracks," Kucharz tries his hand at everything
from jungle to "classical progressive," a somewhat tongue-in-cheek new genre
name he coined to describe some of his experiments in fast-paced tonal
assault. There's nothing here as brutal as, say, the Aphex Twin at his most
extreme, but the unfamiliarity of Kucharz's sonic palette may well prove
disorienting. On some of his earlier, non-"dance" compositions, Kucharz
played with rapid pulses whose noisiness was challenging; here, though, on
tracks such as "U310," drum-machine beats provides a rhythmic framework for
uncompromising textures.
Although it's labelled "techno," "U955" is actually closer to hardcore, and
when its furious oscillations drop away to reveal a static piano motif, the
result is a moment whose beauty lies in its very brevity. At less than four
minutes, "U969" is probably one of the shortest "drum & bass" tracks ever
recorded, but its subsonic beat trickery falls somewhere between
avant-junglists Spring Heel Jack and electro enigmas Drexciya.
The prickly, oscillating "U313" may carry a coincidental reference to
Detroit's area code in its title, but it's "U311," the seventh track, that
marks Kucharz's return to the ominous Motor City linearity of the
"Audiochrome" LP. From there on out, "Misc. Tracks" settles into less busy
rhythms, from the metallic acceleration of "U311" to the elegant kraut thump
of "U922." The last three tracks are the most beautiful, and also the
longest: "U350," an eight-minute collision of classic house piano vamps and
3/4 time; "U921," a lengthy excursion into dubby atmosphere and tonal
counterpoint; and the 14-minute murk of "U333," where melodic whorls and
muted percussion flash by in patches, surrounded by aural fog. Although its
first several tracks may mark "Techno Unit 32" a "difficult" listen, Kucharz
rewards patient audiences with dreamy accessibility later on.
Write to: International Audiochrome, Box 1068, Rye, NY 10580.
Brian J. Dillard Armchair DJ
http://www.armchair-dj.com
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available from cdstreet.com
http://www.cdstreet.com/artists/internationalaudiochromeinc
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Armchair DJ Interview “CLASSICAL TO TECHNO TO CLASSICAL” Larry Kucharz
interviewed by Brian J. Dillard
“ ...After I complete a major project, like a CD, I sometimes reflect about
the things I've done, as opposed to the things I'm "supposed" to be doing.
One of the things that's different about my stuff is the sound. Club
music "rules" state that you have to clear out the bottom.
EQ Code Section 1035 (a) (1):
Get rid of anything below 100 Hz for the kick sound. Problem is, I usually
have lots of very busy stuff going on in that sonic area and just above it.
(There are tracks in "Audiochrome" that have six parts.) This gives it a
muddy quality at times. Maybe what I'm after is a "texture" and I just don't
know it yet. Of course, having that many things going on down there breaks
another "rule":
Club Production Code Section 3089 (c) (3):
Only have one bass at a time. If you have another bass line - fade one in and
the other out. I don't fade in and out; I want the counterpoint. ...”
complete interview at:
http://www.armchair-dj.com/handler.asp?/features/interviews/larry_kucharz.asp
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