Right I'm just in the middle of HTML3ing the WARP Archives, (as a
distraction from exams) as a distraction from *that* I thought I'd review
the new Kirky which I've sat on for far too long...
WARP CD32
Richard H. Kirk
The Number Of Magic
RELEASED ON 3 July 95
2LP / CD / MC
01 Lost Souls On Funk
02 Love Is Deep
03 So Digital
04 Indole Ring
05 East Of Nima
06 Atomic
07 Poets Saints Revolutionaries
08 Monochrome Dream
09 The Number Of Magic
This is the second solo long player for WARP by Sheffield's very own
techno god Richard Kirk. It's actually been quite a while since Kirk
released anything - I mean it must be at least ohh several months... If
only LFO were prolific! I felt that by the time he released the Closed
Circuit stuff he had really saturated the market - and Virtual State, The
Conversation and Intensely Radioactive do on the face of it sound pretty
similar, though Virtual state is the one that stands out for me.
Well, _The Number of Magic_ certainly freshens things up a *bit* - it's not
radically different, all the Kirky elements are there, but I think as a whole
it's slightly more upbeat than Virtual State. It's supposed to be inspired by
his time in Goa last summer and it's not difficult to spot those bits...
The music.
_Lost Souls On Funk_ the opening track is a bit good. It opens with some
classic Kirky noise straight off _Virtual State_, then in comes the
bassline, it plods along at probably less than 100BPM but has incredibly
dirty funky bass riff looped with it, in come typical echoey distortion
noise and we ride that bassline for the rest of the track, there's a
heavily filtered/echoed vocal sample that sounds like "Were smokin" or
something. Very neat funky electroey track.
Which is exactly what _Love is Deep_ is, starting with quite a complicated
break with electroey noises (almost guitary), the light flutey melody
(reminescent of parts of Virtuals _World War Three_) works it's way in,
then a definite wah of a guitar, then a quick skippy chord sequence joins
the melody and off we go, a slightly different breaky element appears
later and that's your lot.
The next track slows it right down. Slow bell tolls, a bass pulses, a slow
'Lets go digital' sample works up to a nice break and then a slowish
bassline. And before you know it, woah, neat funky little wah guitar like
stabs. A 'welcome to voice protection' sample follows.
That's the first side over - so far so funky!
First track on the b-side, fades in a kinda of slow break with an electro
washy pulse in the background, in come more electro noises, more
percussion and bass elements and ah-ha the first Goa hint? Another
electric guitary loop appears on top of the electro wails and then, yes,
definately some kind sitar(?) sound-u-like. Yup sounds Indian to me.
Wonder what this sounds like loud? *wick it up* Shit! Rather good! There
*is* a gentle sub-bass loop... That was _Indole Ring_
The next track has us back with _Virtual State_, synth bit's, those
recognisable chord bit's... But here we have that eastern sounding thingy,
errr kinda wind instrumenty and another slow break, sub-bass pulses and a
nice 'eastern' chant sample. Later another slow electoey synth noise from
Virtual arrives (Does Kirk only have one keyboard?) and we get more kick
drums in the break. Slow dreamy almost mystic stuff...
An off the other piece of vinyl.
Hmmm, we start off here with a looped sample of what sounds like a smake
charmer or some thing, a tad cheesey may be but then the cool and
considered Kirk bassline appears and everything's ok, the sample becomes
more of a stab and drops away, while a gentle (again electric guitary)
loop appears with deep strings. Xylophone bits sneak in with a snatch of a
vocal chant.
_Poets Saints Revolutionaries_ is much much faster than all the preceding
tracks, electreoy noises fade in and out and fast breathless chant sample,
backwards bit's, plinking chord stuff. Kinda bubbly electro, almost acidy
squiggle about towards the end as it rushes into a climax.
Last side...
Hey! That man Vibert get's everywhere, jazzy double bass and a snare, various
bass thuds, an echoing 'uh huh' sample, something which once might have been a
trumpet. Nice stuff, this doesn't do much, but I like it.
The final (title) track, is a bit more technoey if you like, with a thud
tish and stuttery electro bits, but there is wind instrument thing looping in
the scenery and a slow piano sequence loops as well and this all becomes a
much warmer track than the percussion and bass merit. It' also got groovy
vocal sample, some American bloke going on about various numbers, that
should have bee used more.
So...
Well have to admit this left me feeling a bit worried. It's all very good,
very smooth, a very warm sounding album, some of the tracks (the first and
eighth in particular) are *very* funky, RHK at his best, nearly all of the
tracks have wickedly subtle basslines and percussion - BUT... I'm sorry,
time for me to moan. I'm personally beginning to tire of *those* sounds...
Kirk first explored them in _Virtual State_, he worked on the variations
with _Intensely Radioactive_, and yet more variations in _Conversation_...
well we have still yet more variations here, with a slightly eastern and
funkier flavour. Ok, most artists have a certain 'sound' but Richard Kirk
seems to have got stuck with the same *noises*. Rich mate - buy some new
ones! And work your magic with some *new* squiggley electro sounding
things!...
so sez greg :)
greg The Official WARP Web Site
3 0 3
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/~n264671/wap-indx.html