From Che Sent Fri, Aug 21st 1998, 02:06
From Che Sent Fri, Aug 21st 1998, 02:06
At 07:58 PM 8/13/98 GMT, Mark Stevens wrote:
>So, what should a Global Communications virgin be listening out for?
Ask a simple question.... :) I've been working on a retro reviews section
for my website, to cover a lot of past IDM classics that it's hard to find
information on. I guess this is a good excuse to work on some GlobComm
reviews.
I'm going to do this in vaguely chronological order, mixing up their
aliases in the process (entries marked * means I'm guessing on the year -
please email me with corrections). This could also serve as a discography
of sorts, since the official discography is lacking, though god knows I've
offered Ben Middleton my services on numerous occasions. Since others have
done a good job of suggesting releases to
start with, maybe this can serve as a guide to dig deeper. Enjoy!
Oh yeah, standard trivia question - where did the name Evolution (their
record label name) come from? Answer at the end.
1991:
Reload - The Reload EP EVO01 (Evolution) - I don't have this, but Birth Of
A Disco Dancer is also on Theory Of Evolution (TofE). It's is close to 4
minutes of lame synths with clunky 4OTMOFOF beats. The tracks I haven't
heard are Can't Wait Tonite, Death Of A Disco Dancer, and Feedback Energy.
One of the tracks on TofE is called Sexomatic, and is supposedly on EVO01.
Maybe they changed the name? Anyway, it's a little acid number, strictly
dancefloor, with a sample saying "Sexomatic".
Reload - The Autoreload EP EVO02 (Evolution) - Nasu, Ptyzm, Peschi, &
Teque. I know I haven't heard Nasu, maybe I've heard Teque (is it the
same as Teq on ACofSS?). I've heard Peschi & Ptyzm, which are also on
TofE, though Ptyzm is labeled Ptysch. Don't confuse the Peschi on TofE
with the track called Peschi on A Collection Of Short Stories (ACofSS).
Or is this mislabeled on TofE? Given that the version on Usability Now is
labelled Peschi (Original), I'm guessing there are 2 versions. Anyway,
the TofE version features a woman's voice, a simple chord progression, and
a 4OTMOFOF beat for 5 minutes. Ptyzm/Ptysch is a bit more interesting - a
squidgy lead synth with a nice bassline and 4OTMOFOF beats.
Reload - The Biosphere EP EVO03 (Evolution) - The Biosphere is on
Autoreload Vol.2 & TofE. Mosh is on ACofSS - maybe it's the same, maybe
not - see ACofSS for review. Nemm is also on TofE. Rising synth tones, a
mad beat, and a maddening acid line.
1992:
*Reload - The Keongaku EP EVO04 (Evolution) - Incidental Harmony & Sublime
Creation were rereleased on a 12" on Dedicated. I'm hoping the CD
versions I have are the same as the 12" (can anyone confirm this? The CD
version of SC is on Volume 8 (nice little interview w/ Tom & Mark in the
book, also tracks by Ae, B12, HIA, Juno Reactor, Sun Electric, & The Fall)
and is 5:29 long. The CD of IH is on Apollo 2 (R&S) and is 8:35 long.
Sublime Creation starts with sustained lush chords, building up the
percussion for a minute and a half until the bassline kicks in, and it
does kick. Maybe their least melodic song, but I'm a sucker for dropbass,
so I love it. There's a break, a return to the chords, a different
bassline, then back to the main groove. Finally, a bass & bleep exchange
through lush reverb. Ah. Incidental Harmony starts with a heartbeat in
reverb, then a pitched noise source, building with clicky percussion with
lots of delay, then it falls away to reveal a beautiful melody over chord
drone, with a dubby bassline. Then the percussion comes back as the
melody develops. Then it's just bass & noise, then just melody with a
nice twist. A pianoish melody comes in and builds to a break w/ just the
piano hanging lonely & beautiful. Then reprise of the main theme with
variations for 2 minutes, then ending with heartbeat slowing down. One of
their best.
Link - The First Link EP EVO05 (Evolution) - Animus & Amenity I haven't
heard (I think, see below for further discussion of Amenity); Arcadian
(retitled Archetype Arcadian) is also on TofE. Arcadian is built around
frantic percussion juxtaposed with a beautifully simple piano riff. It's
hard to hear any commonality with the later version of Arcadian which is
on AI2, but it's still a very good track, sort of Detroitish with more
uptempo drums.
Various - Cyberdon EP EVO06 (Evolution) - It's hard to figure out what's
going on here. The Universal Language website refers to it as the
Cyberdon EP by Various, with a GlobComm remix of Mystic Institute's
Ob-selon Mi-nos, and doesn't list the other tracks. TofE has QA:752:LP,
and says it's a Reload remix of Mystic Institute. I have the repressed
EVO06RPS version, which calls it the Reload Amenity EP, all tracks by
Reload - Amenity, QA..752L..P, & NS..581A..T. But wait - Amenity is a
Link track, on EVO05. What tha?
Before attempting to solve the mystery, a review of the music:
QA..752L..P is an industro-beat with sweeping chords - not very melodic.
NS..581A..T has a rave synth melody over a 4OTMOFOF beat, but the
percussion is more interesting and it develops a decent groove. Amenity
is a mellow beats with ambience piece with a pulsing bass. Nice.
Ob-Selon Mi-Nos (Global Communications Remix) is also on the Guerrilla
Narcosis 2CD comp. You've probably heard it already - it's 14:31 from
76:14 in disguise - see 76:14 for a full review. I'll confess that there
are some minor differences - it does have some 30 seconds more of the rain
sounds at the beginning & end, so it clocks in at 15:01, but otherwise it
takes a trained ear to tell what's changed. The two biggest I've been able
to hear are the sustained tone that begins at around 9:40 of OSMN and
10:20 of 14:31, sustains longer in OSMN, carrying it into some chords
after a key change, rendering the tone discordant. They fixed this mixing
14:31. Also, the breathy synth/sample in 14:31 has slightly more vibrato,
more noticeable on the higher notes. I wouldn't lose any sleep over these
differences, really, unless you're the trainspotter type, because they're
really, REALLY subtle. FWIW, Ob-Selon Mi-Nos is son Im no lesbo
backwards, if that means anything, though it's probably just coincidence.
Also, you can see Ob-Selon Mi-Nos on the inside cover art of 76:14 just
above 14:31.
Anyway, here's my theory on the differences between EVO06 & EVO06RPS: the
original Cyberdon EP had the GlobComm remix of Mystic Institute's Ob-Selon
Mi-nos, Reload's remix of MI's QA..752L..P, and Reload's remix of MI's
NS..581A..T. When it came time to repress, Mark & Tom decided they didn't
want to include the original Ob-selon Mi-nos, since they corrected the
flaws on 76:14. Also, they decided to discard the Mystic Institute name,
since this was the only place they had used it. They needed a track to
fill side 2, so they chose Amenity. If anyone has the original EVO06, I'd
love to know exactly what tracks are on it. I know someone asked about
this sometime back, but I don't remember seeing an answer.
Shaft - Monkey (Bruce Lee Vs. Monkey Mix) (FFRR) - from Only For The
Headstrong II, this is Mark & some other guy in rave mode - 4OTMOFOF with
buzzy synths, Bruce Lee samples, rave piano, and a chorus built around the
"oh oh oh oh" from Kung Fu Fighting . Only for the completist.
1993:
Reload - AutoReload Vol.2 (Infonet) - sadly this has been long out of
print. A 5 track EP, of which Le Soleil Et La Mer is the album version,
and a LSELM remix is by Black Dog, and utterly fucking brilliant, maybe
the best Black Dog mix ever, but I'll review it elsewhere. Phase 4 is one
of those industro-beat numbers, the soundtrack to a science fiction movie
you only see in your head when the song is playing. The Biosphere (Global
Communication Remix) had me wondering just who this Global Communication
was when I bought it (in 1993 no one had heard of them). This track would
fit in with Link's Antacid well, though it's ambient acid rather than
electro acid. Anthemic chords build slowly, melodies intertwining, and an
acid line starts fading in, until at the 5 1/2 minute point the acid takes
over (no it's not a 303, it's an Alpha-Juno), then the percussion kicks in
to create one of the funkiest acid grooves ever, with far away music
swirling around at subliminal levels (reminds me of the Pink Floyd remake
of Rogers & Hammerstein for some strange reason), then after 2 minutes,
the main melody comes back for a reprise. Still hits me hard after 5
years. (It's also available on a New Electronica comp., which I happen to
have for sale.) Finally, the original version of The Biosphere, which
sounds much more like Reload - industro-beats with big chords, lots of
reverb, nice, but nowhere near as powerful as the remix.
Reload - A Collection Of Short Stories (Infonet) - This was an eye (or is
that ear?) opener when I picked it up in 1993, 76 minutes of music and
complete with booklet of short sci-fi stories by sometimes C&JS
collaborator Dominic Fripp. This full value album is one every IDMer
should own. Begins with the ominious soundtrack noise & percussion of
Teq. It's easy to imagine oneself watching a science fiction movie with
this as the score. After an evil snarl, the beat doubles up, the sort of
pounding any Aphex fan should love. Peschi is a great track. Begins with
big chords, then a pounding kick, dives right into melody, rim shot, and
additional synths. Continues adding percussion & whooshes. It's just SUCH
an expressive, emotional melody. Ahn starts with jazz beats made with
industrial sounds, then some lush chords, and the main melody very
understated, then a percussion loop blasting over everything. Piano break,
nice melody, which interweaves with another melody for the rest of the
song. Rota Link goes back into sci-fi soundtrack mode. Menacing drone,
industrial hisses & machine noises form the beat. Towards the end the
classic "If you feel you are not properly sedated..." sample from THX1138
comes in. Next is 1642 Try 621, definitely a sci-fi story in song form.
For almost 3 minutes it's ominous atmospherics punctuated by "voiceprint
identification" samples, then the beat kicks in, very industrial. This
alternates for maybe 10 minutes, then it's back to the atomospherics, one
final try at "voiceprint identification", then you can see/hear the space
ship lifting off. I finally realized that the "1642" and "Try 621"
samples were also lifted from THX1138. Ev-I-Loy is another sci-fi
soundtrack w/ industrobeats track, 4 1/2 minutes. Akzinor sounds likethe
end of Ev-I-Loy with a vocal sample, moving directly into the dolphin
sounds of Mosh, which drop away for a mosh pit stomping sort of beat,only
to come back. A very strange combo. Ehn is a bit of a departure, based
on a disco bass/beat loop, with some nice chords & piano melodies. A
brilliant piece of tension & release. Psychophylaxis is 30 seconds of
machine overload leading into Le Soleil Et La Mer, at 8 minutes, the best
Reload track. I can see the sparkle on the waves, then the kick comes in,
then a beat loop truncated to 3/4, an ethereal melody, more shimmer, and
the melody repeated on a chimelike synth. If this one doesn't make you
cry, you're one cold hearted bastard. The Enlightenment begins with a
sample from 2010, I think, tinkling chimes over drone, a chord change, 5
1/2 minutes of ambience leading directly into Event Horizon, with
massively crunchy beats pounding to a final climax, with a denouement of
ambience to conclude things. A classic.
Reload - Slowdive {In Mind Remixes} (Creation) - There are two styles of
Reload songs. One is crunchy, AFXish, verging on industrial. The other
is soundtrackish, like GlobComm with beats. It didn't take too long to
figure out that this 10 1/2 minute remix was the latter. Starts with
voices drenched in reverb, which fade, then percussion builds, chords
appear, then a 16th note melody. Soaring synths play, until a woman's
soft, high voice appears angelic and unintelligible. Then breathing and
syncopated percussion play with the 16th note melody. An almost acidic
synth fades in slowly, then it's back to the main vocal. The elements are
interplayed for another 4 minutes, ending in applause. The chord
progression is fairly similar to the one in GC's Epsilon Phase, though
otherwise it's totally different from that track, though I'd say this is
the most GlobCommish of Reload tracks. It's a must have.
Reload - On (Aphex Twin - On Remixes - Warp) - I think this was the first
Reload track I heard. I remember thinking that it was just light years
beyond anything Aphex had done, and that I had to track down anything I
could find by them. Which led to ACofSS & Autoreload Vol.2 (come to think
of it, I think that's when I started to realize that the emperor had no
clothes as far as RDJ was concerned). The track begins with chopped up
radio voices panning, then lush chords, then the main melody from On, then
a supporting melody, shivers, then the drums, very up front. Fade to
synths panning, again the voices, then the bass appears. Next a staccato
shakuhachi type noise, and again the main melody, and back to everything,
until it falls away leaving the lush chords. A great remix lasting 7
minutes.
Global Communication - Blood Music:Pentamerous Metamorphosis {remix of
Chapterhouse's Blood Music} (Dedicated) - 60 minutes of some of the best
ambience ever. Loosely based on Chapterhouse's Blood Music album, I've
never heard the original, so I can't say ow much of it remains. My guess
is, not much. Alpha Phase begins with burbling synths & big chords, then
percussion, slowly building, until the main theme is stated, after which
the kick kicks, lasers zap, and it continues to build, until dropping away
to leave the main theme. Then a variation on the theme develops, and
everything builds to resolution. 16 1/2 minutes. Next comes C3P0 at the
beginning of Beta Phase, then 5 minutes of swirly ambience (no beats)
until a bassline announces a different mood for the last 6 minutes. Jus'
lubberly. Then a whoosh, a drone, the beginnings of a beat, then it drops
out for a subtley wahhed guitar, a melody, percussion building in
complexity, another melody, everything building until it's just groovin'.
Then the beat is gone and the last minute and a half is just the wah
guitar & drone, making Gamma Phase a very satisfying 11 3/4 minutes. Delta
Phase features a staccato synth pulse, a simple guitar riff, a solid
bassline, and etheric washes of breathy & chimey synths. Then some really
fabulous piano work. I know of no other extended solo like this in the
GlobComm opus, ok, there is one, in the Natural High remix, and that's
genius too. It's a shame it ends so abruptly, leaving just the pulse to
fade to black at 10 3/4 minutes. Finally, Epsilon phase is 11 1/4 minutes
of slow pulsing beats with synth chorus and some singing, by Chapterhouse
I suppose, but I can't understand a single word, and it melds with the
music, so I can deal with it. It just wraps up things perfectly. If you
don't own this, I'm truly sorry for you, you're missing out on 60 minutes
of great music.
Link & E621 - Antacid (Evolution EVO07/Warp WAP59CD) - I think there was
also a 12" w/ Antacid I & II; I've got the CD. Antacid is indeed the
antidote to too much mediocre acid. Oddly enough, it has no 303, but an
Alpha Juno 2. The main synth loop kicks in immediately, taking about 2
minutes for the percussion to build to the point where the drums drop out,
the filter cutoff raises a bit, then the drums come back with snare on a
different beat, making for instant funk. Then some filter swept big chords
take the foreground, with the drums & acid in the far background, slowly
creeping forward again, until the 2 fuse as equals, for 4 measures at
least. Then it's pure acid for 3 minutes, then a reprise of the chords.
At 11 1/2 minutes, it's an epic, maybe longer than it should be for
armchair listening, but that's a tough call. Antacid II sounds more like
a hard Reload track - industro-beats with synth buzzes & a melodic
bassline, doubled & delayed on a simple synth tone. I'm not sure why it's
called Antacid II, but it's one of their better hard tracks. There's a
Wish Mountain remix of Antacid II that I don't care for (sorry, just don't
like anything by Herbert but the track on Rumpus Rooms), and a Jedi
Knights remix of Antacid, which was the first taste of Jedi Knights for
many of us. Hilarious retroelectro with scra-scra-scratchin', vocoded
self-referential camp, syndrums, & bleeps for everyone. Pure fun.
*NY Connection - In Front/Want It 10" (Heard) - NY Connection is one of
Mark & Tom's many House aliases. This was supposedly rereleased last year
on 12" & has 2 tracks - In front....You wan' it, and NYC dub. I haven't
been able to find a copy, though I accidentally bought a record on Hyper
House which seems to be 2 remixes of it by others. Be very careful when
ordering.
*Chaos & Julia Set Vol.1 (Recoil?) - I don't even know if this exists, I'm
just guessing, since there's a C&JS Vol.2. I've never been able to
extract any information from anyone on IDM concerning this, so I'm
guessing it's the rarest of Mark's releases. If you don't know, C&JS are
Mark Pritchard & Dominic Fripp doing dark jungle/drum & bass.
*Chaos & Julia Set Vol.2 (Recoil) - 3 track jungle EP. Fear The Future is
darker than any Arcon2. Very sinister. The beats are fairly minimal for
several minutes while the tension builds. Then a sample "Welcome to my
mind" plays, the break kicks, and it's just evil. I seem to remember
that it's on a comp, though I can't remember which. Natural High is one of
the most devastating pieces of drum&bass I've ever heard. The chord
progression is almost the same as the Natural High remix by GlobComm (no
mention of Warp69, though, go figure). It starts dark, and then there's a
slowed down break with a sample (I believe from THX1138) saying "Move
along" that makes me feel like I'm tripping every time I hear it. I don't
know if I've ever heard any piece of music with such a psychotropic
effect. It's also available on CD on Jungle Tekno 4 (Jumpin' & Pumpin').
Finally, there's Fear The Future (Original Chaos Mix), not as dark as the
other mix, some common melodic/chordal elements & different beats. I paid
an insane amount for this 12" and it's worth every penny. I'd love to
track down Vol.1.
*Chaos & Julia Set - Unplugged rmx (Appaloosa EP - Recoil) - I haven't
heard this.
*Chaos & Julia Set - Atmosphere (Various - Concentrated Underground Vol.1
- Recycled) - I haven't heard this. I believe that Reload's Peschi
(original) is also on here, and I've heard that Antacid is on Vol.2. Can
anyone confirm this???