IDM TIMES (oh my god it's really back!) SPECIAL HOLIDAY/YEAR END ISSUE
1994 PRAISE JAH WE MADE IT THROUGH ANOTHER ONE
Future Sound Of London: ISDN
What bliss, not one but TWO full length albums from FSOL in one year.
We puny humans certainly do not deserve such bliss. Anyway, I think
even those of you who didn't care for LIFEFORMS will dig this one. It
differs from its predecessor in that it has a darker, rawer, more
experimental bent. Lots of freaky rhythms and tripped out dub/jazz
effects. "The Far Out Son Of Lung And The Ramblings Of A Madman"
lurches out of an Aliens sample with a 6/4 beat, industrial bass and
demented trumpet warblings. "A Study Of Six Guitars" takes a gentle
"Mountain Goat"-ish line and complements it with all manner of
otherworldly creaks, groans and plucks. Even the more relaxing tracks
maintain an uneasy calm rather than soaking you with easily digested
string pads. Interesting packaging (at least on the UK CD) completes
the picture.
Plastikman: Musik
Ah, what are we going to do with Richie Hawtin? I find him positively
maddening. At his best he can create the sort of bullheaded stomp
that tears up a dance floor, at his worst (and he frequently is), he
churns out utterly forgettable tracks that are a short on ideas,
instrumentation and just about everything else. 5 minutes of a
minimal drum beat is not a song, it's an insult to the listener. And
I am not in the habit of plunking down $12 to be insulted.
Fortunately, "Musik" has two things going for it: one, i didn't pay
for it, and two, it actually has some good tracks. However, I don't
recommend you buy it just to hear the few islands of interesting
set adrift in the sea of unbearably boring. Save your hard-won
holiday dosh for something more cheery.
Loop Guru: The Third Chamber
It's ambient dub. Does that mean it qualifies for the ambient list?
I don't know, it certainly has enough beats to keep a heavily stoned
individual dancing (or at least nodding his/her head in time). Fuck
it, I love this album and I want people to know about it, so I'll bung
it in an IDM Times and it will wind up on an FTP/Gopher/Web site
preserved for all posterity. Enough preface - how's the sound? Glad
you asked, pardner. This is the kind of immersive experience that is
to die for. Achingly beautiful slow dub bass throbbing like the pulse
of your blood. Drum tracks explode in slow motion. A snatch of
ethnic instrumentation is played, seized and looped into infinity.
You put this on and one hour later it ends and you want to start it up
again immediately. The last track, by the way, is the sort of mind
blowingly calm yet edgy track that Eno was producing in his salad
days. They make it seem so simple, the bastards!
Depth Charge: Nine Deadly Venoms
Well, if you get the limited edition with the free bonus CD, it's
actually twelve deadly venoms, but nine has more of a ring to it...
This is funny - a prime example of the scene catching up with the real
geniuses. Many of these tracks are almost five years old now, but
what with the current popularity of "Trip Hop" (cf. Dust Brothers,
MoWax, etc), it must have seemed like the time was right to reacquaint
the short attention span dance scene with J Saul Kane's patented brand
of cheesy-movie-inflected gritty-sounding dub hip hop. Old favorites
such as Depth Charge (cheesy kung fu movie samples), Bounty Killers
(clint eastwood spaghetti western flavored) and Goal (world cup
football) meet some brilliant new ones. My favorites have to be
"Shaolin Buddha Finger" (he makes it sound like some kind of bizarre
kung fu candy bar) and "Number Nine" (with total "Streets Of San
Francisco" platform shoes and bell bottoms swank/strut). Love the
artwork, too. Very appropriate and gives it a "package" feel that
lots of dance albums are missing out on. A real sense of FUN about
this sweet baby. Makes me smile just thinking about it. Get it and
groove!
Trance Europe Express 3
The dance arm of Volume magazine strikes again and man, they just keep
delivering the goods! If you've been living in a cave, you probably
don't know about their double CD sets packed with music (each disc 72
mins or longer), a beautiful 4-color booklet, all for the unbeatable
low price of $20 (or less). The non-cave-dwellers among us have been
enjoying a great selection of music and info at a bargain price. This
one may even top the second, and yes I know I said the second might
even have topped the first when I reviewed it way back when, but this
one sounds even that much more diverse. There's slow swanky strutters
(Air Liquide), stomping crystal-pure techno (Joey Beltram), party
house (The Grid), weirdo German neuz (Mouse On Mars) and even a quick
glance at trip hop (Emergency Broadcast Network). Biggest
disappointment has to be Coco Steel & Lovebomb, which has the most
godawful repeated samples. And the Rephlex Trilogy (Kinesthesia,
u-Ziq and Aphex Twin in disguise as Caustic Window) leaves me totally
cold, but that should be no surprise to IDM list stalwarts. (When is
everyone going to wake up and realized they've been had? Ah fuck
it...) Anyway, I like this. You'll like it. Really.
And so we come to the close of 1994. Peeking into my crystal ball I
see that 1995 will basically be exactly the same. Plus ca change, and
all that, y'know. Stick around and enjoy the ride.
/jon