From Pietro Sent Thu, Sep 16th 1999, 17:18
Re: Moder Jord / Flora & Fauna Records (Sweden) http://hem3.passagen.se/bdl/ While experimental electronics seems to be a style that i'm focusing on these days, Moder Jord (Mother Earth) is also home to Flora (mainly 7" releases) and Fauna (mainly 12" releases). These folks are based in Stockholm, Sweden, so you know there's something tricky going on here.. With the Moder Jord outfit, an artist by the name of Pope just released a 7" entitled "Fridhemsplan," which also seems to be housed around the Flora imprint, and although this may sound a bit confusing Pope is basically a minimal techno collage of not so complex ambient structures, with a "sound" similar to those on Profan, minus the clear crunch of snapping beats. Pope is very smooth and relaxed with subtle dub extracts to keep your mind moving. With Flora's 7" release by Nya Sampan, it may be difficult for me to explain their approach at balancing dub with infectious beats and innovative electronics. However, i should admit that there is an ever present reggae meets intelligent beats and dub on this release that is both dark and upbeat at the same time. Playable at either 45, where you get the reggae/d'nb version (untitled track), and at 33 where you get the reggae/hip-hop version which i seem to enjoy a bit more.. On the Fauna imprint, Nya Sampan's "Roots Music" 12" provides many of the same sounds present on the untitled Flora 7". This time around, a hi-tech backdrop of crispy percussive elements is the focus. And last but not least, another 12" release on Fauna by Slummer called "The Lion That Flies," combines fierce yet simple electronica d'nb that is favoured with flying bass drums, and live "sounding" instrumentation. As one of the samples clearly states, "The drum represents the heartbeat, the bass is the thought, the lion that flies." There's also a remix on here by Dot (on Dot Records i assume) simply called "Dot Remix". This remix is probably the best of the lot. Coherent sequencing, a flowing rhythm section, and lots of bouncing low-ends. Oh, and before i forget a track on here called "Clouds Away," is closed off with a Sesame Street line that i found quite amusing.. Reminded me of Lucky Kitchen's quirky approach. For more details, output, input, sounds and news, check out Flora & Fauna for yourself to decide how quickly or slowly you want to seek these fellas out! Pietro. _____________________________________ Pietro Da Sacco, m b m @ n e t c o r e . c a ::: Grooves Magazine 002 ::: ::: Experimental Electronica in Words ::: http://www.rain.org/~audio/grooves/ ::: Insound.com Zinestand ::: http://www.insound.com/zinestand/grooves/