From dis2 Sent Wed, Dec 17th 1997, 15:54
From dis2 Sent Wed, Dec 17th 1997, 15:54
Sorry, sent it off before I finished it by mistake. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A few digests back, someone asked for a review of the new Phoenecia EP on warp. I bought the it on Monday, mainly because it's on Warp and that usually seems to be a pretty good indicator of quality. I wanted to wait a couple of days before posting a review, as with this sort of music your mind can change after a few listens as more details reveal themselves. The best way I can describe this EP is as a cross between the playful, jaunty rhythms of Mouse on Mars, with the fractured and distorted crunchy beats of Autechre. For the most part, the melodies remain prtty deeply submerged in the structure of the songs, only occaisonally breaking the surface. The first track, Somory, starts off with a wierd melody, composed from strange computer noises at different pitches. After a while, stuttering Autechre-type beats begin to come in. The beats continue to restructure themselves over the course of the tune, but for the most part, nothing particularly amazing happens, apart from the melody becoming slightly more complex before the track falls apart. Y-intercpnkt, despite its bizarre name, is a bit more interesting. The beats sound a bit more insistent, and slowly a lovely, almost childlike melody reveals itself. The beats cut out somewhat to let the tune breathe, before coming back in even more insistent than before. The track ends with just the one melody line repeating itself. Very nice. Thong is the track that reminds me of Mouse on Mars. Quite bouncy and playful, but no real tune to speak of. Can is another good little tune. Jaunty little plinky-plonky melodies keep it going in sync with the scratchy beats and some nice synth stuff. It's got a couple of Tewe-style breakdowns, but is a lot more cheerful than anything on Chiastic Slide. Like Y-interwhatever, it ends with just a single melody line, and it's these two tracks that, for me, make the EP worth buying. Overall, it's quite a good EP, but suffers in comparison to the tracks in a similar vein by different artists. It's pretty cerebral stuff, but if you're into this sort of thing, then I'd reccomend it. However, it doesn't seem to offer anything particularly new. I'd be interested to know whether it was written before or after stuff like Autoditacker and Chiastic Slide. Who's plaigarising who? Dan Shoebridge. mp: Elton Fastbrook - Switch Hardflip. Is the Animals on Wheels album anything like this? If it is, I'm getting it.