From Daniel Bremmer Sent Wed, Jul 21st 1999, 05:04
I'm coming out of lurk mode for a minute. I'm sick so bear with my scattered train of thought. this show was the shit. I resonate most of the same opinions that chris had, but here's my take: Public Space/Green Galactic/Lynn Hasty: Lynn is simply a goddess. I owe her complete credit for the inspiration for ever getting the idea to promote truly alternative events. She was the only one giving non-danceable electronic music a venue to be heard for years, and today remains the best and most respected person doing it today. The El Ray: I like this venue alot, it's the nicest venue in socal with the exception of Metropolis (RIP). J bondy: J is the shit. He's one of the few DJ's who can mix idm stuff with danceable stuff and can accually get away with some sort of coherence. He also makes music with other DJ's in the Grafix DJ crew under the name Colophon (improvisational ambient stuff) and Darkroom (dark electroish stuff). Lexaunculpt: Ok, so I may be biased, but I really think that the stuff that alex is working on now schools any other artist making IDM today. That's right, I think his new stuff (not the stuff on 'double density' or 'oh heres some noises', but from the impending MAS release on) schools autechre, aphex twin, =B5-ziq or any other laptop rocker out there. His stuf= f has all the tweaky sounds, psychotic proggramming and complex rhythm structure of all these guys, but combines it with a sophistication and human element lacking in most contemporary IDM stuff. Of course this is my personal opinion, so keep the flames to a minimum please. Stewart Walker: I got bored when he went on, so I went outside for a bit. People who dig minimal techno were into it, but I don't think it went well with the theme of the night. I've always been skeptical of the marrage of sparse sounding minimal techno and super-congested idm that seems to be so prevelant, maybe I'm just missing something. I'd rather see a local artist who's music fit the theme of the night like Low Res, L'usine, Surface 10 or Shad T Scott than somone from out of town that made stuff that was so different. Phoenecia: Fucking tight. I think thier music adapts to a live set better than Lexaunculpts does, it was very consistent without getting redundant. The sound sucked ass though, there was no bass in the middle and the treble was so high it hurt my ears. It got better as the set went on, but never fully recovered. =46unkstorung: I'm not all that into thier stuff. I've heard cool mixes here and there, but they seem a little too generic and repetitive for my taste. I really liked the first 20 minutes or so, but after thier first break it was just too much of the same and I was ready to head home. I left that evening with 3 neat-o items, and no longer having my radio show I'll tell you about them to f0ill my need to force my music on other people: 1: e.x.p. issue b - A very cool and well-designed IDM zine, well worth picking up (especially while it's still free). There's a shitload of reviews and articles with Low Res, Mixmaster Morris, & Neotropic. 2: Lusine self titled CD - This is Isophlux's first CD, and it's really worth picking up. It has the requisite crunchy beats and complex rhythms, but Jeff McIlwain incorporates analog synths for a more jovial and musical sound. Autechre meets =B5-aiq? the alien love baby of an arp and a trash can lid? music to accompany an alchoholic retired sailor desperately seeking a restroom amidst the geometric patterns swirling around him becuase he's accidentially digested psylocibyn? Arrrgh. 3: Colophon CD-R - Colophon (formerly 2 silver boxes vs. ultrawide) is Jbondy (1/2 of 2 silver boxes, 1/2 of Darkroom), skattrebrayn (1/2 of Darkroom, 1/2 of Ultrawide), The fisherman (1/2 of 2 silver boxes) and Malcom (1/2 of Ultrawide). They started by just hanging around playing thier synths to see what came up, and they decided it sounded pretty good. When the do it live, sometime's it's right on, sometimes it can be a little noodly, but they always end up somewhere interesting sooner or later. This CD is a collection of excerpts from hours of such improvisational jams. It's a good antidote for stuff that's so programmed it can't possibly be played out. I also learned while handing out Shamballa flyers that if you ask somone from LA if they live in OC, they look at you like you just raped thier mother. At least we can park here in OC you smog loving ass holes! Ok, enough procrastination. I'm returning to my lurk mode. Go to shamballa! ambient and space music with killer indian vegetarian food! www.peachfuzz.net/shamballa -Daniel xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx Peach PO Box 1902 Huntington Beach, CA 92647 www.peachfuzz.net "Trying is just the first step towards failure" - Homer Simpson