The Black Dog : Spanners (Warp)
I'm not going to add much more to whats already been said; little point
really. This album is bloody essential. I'm still hesitant to say that
its the best Dog album yet, but I guess it doesn't really matter;
they're all damn essential. _Spanners_ is slightly more eclectic with
few tracks like old Dog faves like _Cost II_; instead you get some ace
experimentation in hip-hop beats, some far-out electronic lunacy and
you still end up with the inevitable Black Dog sound. In a way, I'm
glad I didn't manage to get the promo tape doing the rounds before
Christmas; this is the freshest, best possible start for 1995. The album
of the year already. IMHO, of course.
GEN : Time Square (Mille Plateaux)
Thoughtful, minimal and subtle electronics from Walker and Khan.
_Part 1_ opens up slowly and satisfyingly, easily the highlight of the
release. _Part 3_ thumps along lightly and assuredly, in a more Air
Lquide type way. As a 12" this has little initial impact but give it a
bit more time and you'll feel amply rewarded.
Velocette : Microcosmik EP (Reflective)
Dark, ambient/techno, (too?) much like Autechre. Scary but accomplished;
Locust fans will lap it up. The last track is a minimal beauty though,
disturbing but expansive, and strangely comforting; all at the same
time. The others have little impact however. Nice hologramatic label
tho'.
The Kosmik Kommando : Side E5 (RePHLeX)
A 3-track sampler from _Frequenseize_, this features two lightly aired
acidic numbers and _Macrocosm_, the magnificently moody acid builder
from the R&S 12". Much lighter and with more depth to it than _MC-202_
and his harder material. I'm not sure whether it is representative of
_Freaquenseize_ or not; it dosn't really matter as this is a satisfying
enough release on its own. Oh, its etched too. And limited to 1000
copies. Yum.
Tek 9 : A Littl 'Sumtin (Reinforced)
Sparse jungle and some De La Soul-style hip hop beats, mesh perfectly on
this double 12" pack. _Low_ subbass too; my cones were distorting even
with the bass turned down. _A London Sumtin' Dis_ is the highlight with
rhythms that leave me going "How the-", "Who the-", and "Uhhk". Bloody
clever stuff (from a non-junglist beat programmer's PoV).
DS : Volume 1 (F Communications)
Old F Comms. release from Ludovic Navarre. This is very much in a
harder, minimal acidic groove, as opposed to his fluffy, funky St.
Germain/Nuages material. A bit _too_ drawn out? Maybe, but its filled
with enough solid beats and gaseous sounds to make it playable.
Phyllyps : Trak 2 (Basic Channel)
I hear this is popular with "the kids on the floor". Well, I wouldn't
know about that but this is a typical minimal BC release; that trademark
clangy, industrial sound is used to ace effect; like hearing 12 copies of
_Red 2_ playing simultaneously from the bottom of mineshaft. Flip it over
for a highly minimal dub-esque track, that is well, pretty pointless
really.
Gescom : Gescom (Skam)
Nice one. This is Autechre and Darrel Fitton (and some other bloke) into
bleak atmospherics and moody techno. IMO, this is a great deal more
accessable and much more thoughtful than Autechre's usual output. This
might be partly due to Fitton's input; one track sounds just like
_Blipsalt_ (from AI2) and is highly desireable indeed.
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