There's some reviews at the bottom of this message, so if you
want to skip my pontifications, just go down there. But I've got a
couple things on my mind that have started bugging me so much
that I'm going to de-lurk to air them (yikes!).
I have to say this: this list is really beginning to piss me
off. You all seem to have forgotten that music is one of those things
to which nobody can make any real claims to objectivity. In the end
it's all just our personal opinions, none more valid than anyone
else's. When we all forget that we start sounding like really
mean-spirited schoolkids, ("You don't like Star Wars? Man, you're
really stupid!" "I am not!" "Are too! Chewbacca's the best!") and I
didn't enjoy school very much because of kids like that.
Saying that an inability to perceive a band's greatness is the
fault of a listener is just plain STOOPID. And I found the total slam
of the person who wanted to talk about Lenny Dee / Industrial Strength
on this list offensive. I honestly feel that a case can be made for
"hardcore as intelligent music." X-103 or Labworks, anyone? As the
notice we were all sent when we joined idm said, definitions of idm
depend on who's making the definition.
We came together here to talk about music that moved our heads
and hearts as well as our bodies. Can't we use both of those things
while discussing the tunes?
Which is not to say that I'm against people slamming tunes, I
merely hoped that everybody would have realized that all the bickering
we're doing about AFX, FSOL, and other acronyms is counterproductive,
because it basically became a religious issue very early on. But
enough of that.
I picked up the Vapourspace single, the album, Juno Reactor,
and the Cream of Tomato comp. I like them all very much, though for
different reasons. I just wish I was able to buy new tunes more often.
Has anyone noticed that "Gravitational Arch of 10" sounds like
a much lusher remix of Mark's earlier song (as Cusp) "Drone um
Futurismo," on Probe? Vapourspace's melodic structures and textures
remind me, in turn, of the best of Richie Hawtin's work (no surprise
there) and the most focused Orbital tracks. Bleeps and odd rhythms
abound, and the flugelhorn patch they use in "Gravitational Arch"
feels orgasmic. That song is _very_ reminiscent of Vangelis's
electronic Blade Runner score. Mark Gage is definitely an artist to
watch.
On the down side, I do wish (very strenuously, in fact) that
they had indexed the "Themes" CD. I don't think it's seamless enough
to warrant being left as one track. And with the single covering the
"Gravitational Arch" terrain as firmly as it does, I wish that a
little less of the album had been devoted to that song. Plus, one song
on "Themes" has some really annoying high-frequency bursts in it that
make me feel like there's mosquitos in my ears.
Whoever mentioned that Juno Reactor sounds like a modernized
version of Eon was spot-on. I'd even go so far as to wager that the
beat in one of the songs was lifted straight up from "Final Warning."
And it's got the same general feel: smooth but crunchy, and lots of
space-related samples (HAL pops up, but they're not the same old
samples that everybody else has been using). As an aside, a lot of the
samples make me feel melancholic because they remind me of the fact
that the American space program was functionally dead before I could
really understand what it was all about. Me being the SF boy that I am,
this saddens me, but I suppose that's neither here nor there. But the
music itself supports these kinds of thoughts, because it's very
mellow and reflexive. In fact, it does become sonic wallpaper at some
points, but the textures take over when the melodies grow boring.
Finally, the Tomato comp is great. This CD is a wonderful
cross between the best Hard Hands / Guerilla progressive sound and New
York's pounding disco/house tunes. Many of you are likely to recognize
the Infinite Wheel's "Lake of Dreams" from In Order To Dance 4, which
is here in an edited form. It's not really representative of the CD or
the label, as it's a bit more techno- or trance-oriented than most of
the stuff on the label. However, the rest of the comp is very smooth
progressive house. My only complaint is that many of the tracks are
very old. Hopefully Moonshine will release some more recent of their
stuff.
yrz,
ozymandias