I'm way behind on some of this shit, as usual, so what's new?
Ryuichi Sakamoto - Anger/Grief Rmxs (Ninja Tune) - The Ninjas deliver
again. Very little of the original Sakamoto work remains, just a 3 1/2
minute edit. From what I can tell, it's from a dark symphonic work on
Sony Classical. But that's ok, we get some stellar reinterpretations of it
from Amon Tobin, Talvin Singh, and Chocolate Weasel. All are vaguely
D&Bish, radically different in sound, but similar in mood, which is dark,
very dark. Don't listen to this if you're feeling happy. The Talvin
Singh mix is especially outstanding, some of the most alien sounding music
I've heard in awhile. Oh yes, there's also a Rare Force mix which does
nothing for me, your basic 4OTMOFOF with samples repeating ad naseum. I
saw on CDNow that another remix single from this album is due out next
month. Anxiously waiting to see who has the honors on it!
The Black Dog - Bullitt Remixes (Warners) - Good luck tracking down the
limited 500 copy 12" w/ the exclusive Dogalytic Converter mix. Fucking
record companies. Ken delivers the goods on this remix of Lalo Schifrin's
classic 70's cop movie theme. Dogalytic Converter is a jazz flavored D&B
workout. The jazzy bits are very nice and don't come off as some Bukemish
faux jazz. Two complaints - the beats are too steady state, i.e. they
don't mutate every measure like good D&B; and the song seems to be
structured in a dramatic fashion with a very important element of the
drama missing - the vocal samples from the movie which Ken couldn't get
clearance to use. Not Ken's fault, but I think the song could have been
edited differently. Minor quibble. Mini Driver Jam (she was in Good Will
Hunting, right?) is classic Black Dog repetition as a form of change. The
bassline forms the hypnotic bedrock of the track, while narcotic trumpet
lines float in and out. Stunning. Cruise Control is another jazzy number,
nice beat programming, sounds better slowed down. Oh, and the original
Lalo Schafrin versions are pretty cool too, though you only get the end
title version on the CD. Fucking record companies. I bought both
Funki Porcini vs. Jerry Van Rooyen (Sideburn) - This would fit right in w/
The Black Dog Bullitt mixes. 3 track EP of Mr. Funki remixing some weird
lounge cat. All I can say is, that cat can blow! The Great Train sounds
like a Lalo Schafrin theme w/ some chill blowin' goin' on. As in trumpet,
baby. Tunnel Hunter kicks in more of a Funki vibe - the beat's a bit
madder, until it drops out into an ambient bit that leaves me feeling,
well, I don't know. Not relaxed, but not bad, just edgy. Finally Flesh
Carpet is a chill trip into the xylophone lounge scene. I have only one
complaint - this thing's TOO DAMN SHORT! I'm buying the new Funki as soon
as it's out, and I think I'm gonna have to cough up $20 to buy Endlessism
(Dot), just for the damn Funki mix. And now I find out that there are 2
different tracks on the original version of Hed Phone Sex. Damn!
What's a poor 'spotter to do? Go broke?
Global Communication - The Groove (Dedicated) - I've known about this one
for some time, and have intentionally ignored it, until one day I realized
that it probably wasn't going to be in my rekkid store forever, so I
snagged it & the Big Ones CD. GlobComm once again pulls a chameleon (pun
intended), this time going for the 70's funkster personnae 1st glimpsed on
"Funk In The Fridge" (on one of the "Maiden Voyage" CDS's. There is a
twist, however. They went out & hired a band to perform the song,
complete with (thankfully) minimal vocals. The beat is your basic 4 on
tha mofoflo. Funny how that's boring whether on a drum machine or with a
drummer. 2 band mixes, a Modwheel mix which is a little more electronic
sounding and closer to my liking, another mix which is trip hoppish & also
quite good but too similar, a Palm Skins Productions mix which does a good
job of retaining elements of the original while reinterpreting it as a
funky groove trance workout (kinda like that track on Reload's Collection
Of Short Stories (9, was it?), the one that used a 3/4 measure loop), and
a mix by Dego which is funky. 35 minutes total running time, all good to
very good, depending on how well you can stomach recycled 70's. I have a
low tolerance.
Jedi Knights - The Big Ones CD (Universal Language) - 3 tracks of
dancefloor oriented fun from Tom & Mark. Catch The Break is reminiscent
of the Air Drums From Outer Bongolia track off the album. Big Knockers is
another 4OTMOFOF stomper, not very armchair friendly. The other 3 tracks
are a Heard Records "sampler". Moroccan Jack by Modwheel (Tom) delivers
yet another FOTMOFOF grinder disguised as a call to prayer. The Return by
Circulation is a Bulgarian disco number, you guessed it, 4OTMOFOF, with
some nice synth & piano. Finally, In To My Thru by The Horn (a veiled
MIDI reference?) mails in yet another noise squidge over 4OTMOFOF track
(which seems to be what every track I've heard from him sounds like). I
just don't get it. 5 tracks, 39 minutes of 4OTMOFOF is more 40TMOFOF than
I can tolerate. Your mileage may vary.
Global Communication remixes of Sun Rising (Beloved) - Wow. How do they
do it? 2 mixes of this early 90's classic, unfortunately spread over 2
CDS's. One is a deep house take which reworks the bassline to chill
effect. The other is a D&B mix, laidback & mellow with kick like a cup of
good coffee with an addshot of espresso. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm is the
operative mantra for these two. Not to be missed if you're a GlobComm
fan. (As an aside, I'd like to comment on how well I think The Beloved's
1st two album has aged. I keep a 90 min tape of it & various remixes in
the car (it's something my wife can listen to) and listen to it far more
than I thought I would when I made the tape).
Orb remix of Towards The Evening Star (Tangerine Dream) - props to Saj at
Resonance Records for tracking down this orbscure CD for me. A classic
Orb remix, salvaging what's good in the original and building a groove
around it, adding tension that the original lacks, and digging up an old
vocal sample that's sure to get a grin. Aubrey mixes are my favorite
remixes.
Luke Vibert - Big Soup - Like, what's the big deal? Rather pedestrian hip
hop beats overlaid with poorly pitched samples - even Puff Daddy could do
a better job of being musical. The first 2 tracks are so atonal as to be
unlistenable, & 7 is pretty bad. This album is interesting to compare to
Spaghettification - they're similar in concept, vastly different in
implementation. If Marc Royal's drug is acid, Vibert's is definately
ganja. Me? I prefer that electric edge.
Amon Tobin - Mission 12" (Ninja Tune) - As far as I can tell, Mission is
just like the album version. There are two other tracks, though - People
Like Frank and Tabukula Beach Resort. People Like Frank starts out with a
Cujoesque walking bassline & some downtempo beats that don't quite mesh
with the bassline (something very subtley wrong here), then some mad Tobin
beats kick in for awhile, then it melllows again. Not my favorite Tobin
track. Tabukula Beach Resort features the noisest rekkid samples I've
ever heard used in a song. It goes way beyond charm into disgustingly
crackly. C'mon, dude, that's what noise reduction software is for! Once
you get past the noise, it's kinda sketchy. And I thought Amon could do
no wrong. Oh well, one for the 'spotters.
TPower - Symbiosis/Complexification - Like, you'd think somebody on this
list would have given us a headsup on this one. Maybe it's too
intelligent, i dunno. 2500 copies of this, maybe that's it - not rare
enough. Maybe you can still track down a copy. Think Plaid with better
beats & songs that actually go someplace. Think Police State part 2.
Symbiosis starts like a semi-ambient track (of the type found on
Waveform), then the beats kick in and a synth lead that sounds like a dead
ringer for Robert Fripp's favorite sologuitar sound comes in. I'm hooked.
Long buildup with some incredibly beautiful synth playing. This was on my
list of "Tracks to make you cry". The beats are mellow but unmistakeably
TPower. 12+ minutes of bliss. Similar stylistically to Tama off of
Avantgardism. Complexification is 7 1/2 minutes of some fabulous poppin'
bass playin', the dope TPower beats, and some nifty synth twiddling.. My
only complaint is that it could easily have been a 5 minute track. In
fact, I sliced it down to 4 1/2 minutes for a CDR for my car. I'm afraid
I won't be happy until I track down every piece of music Marc Royal's ever
done.
Autechre, Jega, PWOG - Angie Is A Shoplifter Remixes (Pure Plastic) -
Gradually mutating FOTMOFOF mix from Ae. Maybe I'll like it better after
a few hundred listens. Unfortunately I can't do that until I transfer it
to CD. I actually liked the Jega mix better. Downtempo with weird
processed vocals. Nice. PWOG mix - another plodding exercise in boredom.
Drexciya - The Quest (Submerge) - I borrowed this from a friend & thought
I was listening to Elecktroids. I've always been good at identifying
music (after hearing just one Renaldo & The Loaf track, I was able to
identify another of their tracks on the radio years later). If Drexciya
isn't Elecktroids, then they have the most peculiarly similar tastes in
synth sounds & compositional style that I've heard in the techno world. I
knowthe connection has been denied but I think they're just blowing smoke.
Anyway, if you like the instrumental Elecktroids tracks, you'll like this
- 2 CDs worth of theirtracks, some unreleased - get your butt over to
www.submerge.com & buy it.
I hope to have a reviews section on my website soon.
Che
PS If you haven't figured it out, 4OTMOFOF = Fo' On Tha MuthaFuckin' Flo'.
...and these damn talking animal & talking baby commercials have got to
stop! I guess that's what happens when you give an idiot a nonlinear
video editor & some morphing software.