(If you're not interested in lengthy digressions, dance music, anal
retentive collecting of records or recreational drugs, delete this message
now. You have been warned.)
IDMites,
I have been an avid fan of Oliver Ho from ever since I bought the
``Metaphor'' 12" (Meta M004) from a friend. I spent about two months
earlier this year hunting the rest of the Meta releases (plus the whole
back catalogues for Blueprint and Surface which also have rather many Ho
releases). Recently, Ho released a co-project with James Ruskin, called
``Mutate And Survive'' and I was amazed, that EP was quite a new direction
for Meta. The trademark cut-up vocal samples Ho uses are there, but they
are more pronounced and melodic, and the tracks have more house than
techno feel to them (to those unfamiliar with Ho's output, his style is
very percussive, rolling techno with chopped-up, constantly retriggered
vocal samples with a quite a bit of delay). At first I was a bit put off
by this new style, but when I listened to ``Mutate And Survive'' a few
more times I really, _really_ started to like it.
Thus, ``Listen To The Voice Inside'' (Meta METALP/CD001 2xLP/CD) became
an instant favourite. Following in the footsteps of ``Mutate And
Survive'', the first full-length release on Meta is a tight package from
one of the best British techno producers nowadays. Rolling beats, twisted
vocal samples, tribal and dubby percussions, more melodic than any Meta
release before it. ``Listen...'' is something I would probably
characterise as Intelligent Dance Music. It doesn't bash your head in but
gives a constant twitch of the foot. It is aggressive enough to go along
with harder techno yet smooth enough to mix with tech-house or even
house. In their repetitiveness, some of the tracks are very
trance-inducing, making at least me to work at a faster pace, getting me
to a flow zone where I do things faster and better.
As ever the anal retentive collector (trainspotter, or whatever you want
to call it), I had to get ``Listen...'' in both CD and vinyl formats, as
previous experience with Blueprint vinyl vs. CD releases always have
differences. How right I was. The vinyl version has two tracks not on
the CD, and the CD has seven (!) tracks not on the vinyl version. The
exclusive vinyl tracks are more dancefloor-oriented, and the exclusive
tracks on the CD are more experimental (though two of them are short
fillers like ``Phils'' and ``Bolts'' on early Black Dog Releases). Also,
the track listing for the CD lists only nine tracks but there are thirteen
on the CD. Counting out the fillers there are ten. So, there is an unnamed
track quite characteristic to other Ho CD releases (``Duality'', BP001CD,
and ``Sentience'', BPCD02). I could really go on forever about this as I
did quite extensive research while searching for the records on the labels
mentioned above.
As for emotion, ``Listen To The Voice Inside'' is full of it. Though
more dancefloor-oriented than most of the records discussed on the list,
it really can be just listened to as well. The rhythms are catchy and well
programmed, yet tranquill enough not to make you climb the walls. Ho
paints a beautiful aural picture with this record, and I have to admit
that I prefer the CD version over vinyl because of the more experimental
extra tracks (plus the benefit of not having to flip sides every two
tracks). The centerpiece of the record is ``In The Centre Of Paradise'',
a ten-minute epic house/trance/tribal/techno hybrid; beautiful vocal
samples, pronounced percussions yet with a dancefloor-friendly steady
pumping beat; ``Moonlight'' is absolutely fabulous trancey tecnho with an
undulating high bell-clinking background and wailing brass samples - just
to name two of the best tracks found on both vinyl and CD. I really
recommend getting both formats, even moreso if you're a DJ.
If you like the wares on Blueprint, Surface, Dynamic Tension, Fracture
and of course Meta, you should check ``Listen To The Voice Inside'' out.
You won't be disappointed. Now my palms are sweating in anticipation of
the new James Ruskin on Blueprint, ``Cipher'' (BP016).
I am still wondering what the black-and-white situation with dancing to
the music we listen to (especially at live events) is. Some people dance,
some don't, but no-one should get offended if someone does one or the
other. There are those of us who like just to sit and nod to the beat and
those who like to experience the music as more kinetic. Admittedly the
``scene'' (a term I would not prefer to use) is quite elitistic and hard
to get into, but I think frowning upon (civilised) activity, be it sitting
or dancing, should be tolerated by both sides. I'm more of a dancing type
myself, but occasionally I just sit and dig the feeling. It differs quite
chaotically, so it doesn't depend on (just) the music.
Of course some (or most) of the music discussed on the list is not very
dancer-friendly, with unusual time signatures, syncopation, polyrhythms
etc. which go way over the basic rhythm sense of most people, but it
shouldn't prevent people from doing what they want to do (unless it's
throwing yourself at other people or waving your hands uncontrollably and
yelling). Even if some elitist whines about it and frowns upon your
activity.
I have always wondered how much the IDM crowd is involved with various
recreational drugs. Chemicals are and probably will always be a part of
electronic music (especially in genres like (psychedelic) trance,
hard/progressive house, hard techno etc.), but how is it on the more
tranquill side? Do people neck Es at home when listening to music? Do they
do acid when going to IDM-related parties? Do they go on sprees of speed
when a package of twenty new records arrive in the mail? Do they roll a
spliff when sitting around with friends and listening to the latest
offering from (insert favourite prominent IDM label here)? No follow-ups
necessary, just wondering...
Cheers,
--
nuutti-iivari meriläinen gordon at diversion dot org
http colon slash slash www dot diversion dot org slash
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