Once again, this may be a bit long and if FAX doesn't interest you you
may not want to waste your time, so I'll try to be short.
PS 08/38 Houdini
"This World Is a Will To Power and Nothing Besides"
1. Braincloud
2. Iris
3. What in the World is Going On?
4. Aurora
5. Neural Deception
6. Red Dwarf
7. Too Late
8. Don't Know Really
9. Beyond Recognition
10. Strange?
11. My House
This one's really different than the usual FAX dance stuff, which usually
ends up being very repetitive and boring. This should appeal more to people
who like the stuff coming from Eye-Q, as its a lot more melodic and accessible
and I like it a lot better. "Braincloud", "Iris" and "Aurora" are perfect
examples where they have building melodies around a decent beat. A couple
tracks are a little too fast, and his stab at house ("My House") is pretty
sad. "Strange?" is not really all that strange, and the one or two ambient
tracks are okay. But this CD represents a big change in the dance department
at FAX, and I find it a lot better. Who is this Simon Ellis guy anyways?
PS 08/39 The Whole Traffic
The Whole Traffic= Basalt Boys + Dr. Atmo
1. 138 KMH 20.43
2. 110 KMH 21.01
3. 107 KMH 11.34
4. 72 KMH 9.12
5. 38 KMH 8.07
Starts out with some Persian poem, and occasional sort-of middle eastern
percussion winds around a stomping 4/4 beat with a bassline that is taken
over by various interesting melodies. 138 KMH is (surprise) at 138 bpm and
so on. 138 KMH is excellent, with a little tinny break speeds by,
simulating the cruising speed of the journey. 110 KMH is a little slower but
not as interesting as the first, making it *way* too long. As things slow
down it gets more interesting, as the pounding beat gives way to slower
middle eastern percussion and some beautiful melodies. All in all, this is
kind of strange, but a different sound and very interesting. Hard to classify.
PS 08/40 Music to Films
Music to Films 1
1. Movement 1 16.46
2. Movement 2 11.58
3. Movement 3 9.47
4. Movement 4 23.51
5. Movement 5 14.48
Inspired by the film "Koyaanisqatsi", you're instructed to start the music
as soon as the film title disappears. I've never seen the movie, but I expected
something different. I thought of some tribal percussion and sounds, but
they stick to a pretty ambient format and never really break out into any kind
of beats at all, except for some lame looped thing that sounds like it was a
break from some heavy metal band. It stays ambient as is filled with sweeping
melodies. It sometimes gets a little repetitive, but the music is very
dynamic and holds your interest throughout the journey. It does sound like
music to suit a film, but is never that cheesy. MTF being Dr. Atmo and Oliver
Lieb (Spicelab), I expected a little bit more after hearing "Java" on Eye-Q,
which was extremely good. But I keep forgetting that this is ambient, and
they do it quite well, with a more melodic and accessible twist.
PS 08/41 Atom Heart- Live at sel i/s/c
1 Live at sel i/s/c 1.01.44
Broken up into about 12 parts, this may as well be one long track a la
Vapourspace. This is deep, deep ambience- not for the easily distracted.
I think a lot of people would dismiss this as extremely boring, and to an
extent they would be right. There is a deep rumble that continues throughout
the entire hour that consists of the backing sounds. Sometimes the texture
changes slightly if you listen closely, but otherwise its one long tone.
On top of it is Atom Heart playing some higher pitched melodies, none of which
are really related to one another. If you listen closely it is very relaxing
but if you are not into repetition, this disc is definitely not for you.
PK 08/88 Namlook III
"Recommended Daily Intake..."
Aliens in My Suitcase 1.03.00
Intruder 1-9
reviewed next time, as well as Passion (even though it's old) and
Ambiant Otaku by Tetsu Inoue. sorry, I ran out of time. sorry
for taking up so much space.
Thanks for your time,
Jonathan
eabu751@orion.oac.uci.edu