From Che Sent Tue, Dec 9th 1997, 12:41
From Che Sent Tue, Dec 9th 1997, 12:41
Arcon2 - self-titled (Reinforced) - If ever a record could be described as dystopic, this is it. Dark, yet neither angry nor depressing. It's like flying through the smog at sundown towards the Tyrell Corporation pyramid - disgustingly beautiful. Yes, it's yet another drum&bass record with hard beats & dark chords, but, Arcon2 somehow manages to stand apart from the crowd. Like a soundtrack, none of the tracks are memorable in a poppy way, but taken together they create one helluva atmosphere. The beats are built with unusual percussion sounds rather than deconstructed breaks, and I think that's its strength. The programming is phenomenal, right up there w/ Amon Tobin & Tom J. The synth sounds that pan around the beats are sublime. If you're an afficionado of beats, this is one to get. Someone mentioned the Arcon2 not tracking on their CDROM drive...it may be software, not hardware. A lot of programmers will just assume there's a Track 1 and never program an alternative. I use "Notify CD Player", an excellent toolbar CD controller for Win95. When I first popped in Arcon2, it ground for about 30 seconds trying to figure things out, then it gave a track list w/ Track 1 length 0:00. I deleted Track 1 from the playlist, and now it autoplays normally. All said, not having a Track 1 was a pretty stupid thing to do. Here's a Q about Reinforced - the Amazing Discography site doesn't list the CDs, which seem to have a different numbering scheme from the LPs. RIVETCD01 was 4Hero's "In Rough Territory", RIVETCD02 was NuEra's "Beyond Gravity" (oddly enough, the label name is listed as Reflective, though the logo is definitely the Reinforced logo - I guess Mark & Dego were going to change the name, then discovered it was already taken). Arcon 2 is RIVETCD08. So, what're 03-07? Anyone care to review any of these? I'm guessing 4Hero's "Parallel Universe" was released on Reinforced too, then rereleased on Selector/Crammed (pre-SSR)? Che