From david turgeon Sent Thu, Apr 15th 1999, 20:42
this is my first time at this, bear with me. :) d'arcangelo / solvent split 7" (suction 005) extra slick robot tunes, makes my turntable happy everytime. d'arcangelo's track is quite a stunner, very videogameish. as for the solvent track, it doesn't look like much but it grows on you quite effectively. one of those you just gotta get if you see it. lithops _uni umit_ cd (sonig-moikai) from the sonig provenance & the general sounding, i'd say these guys _must_ be related to mouse on mars in some way or another, but other than that i don't know much of lithops. this cd contains a measly 8 tracks, & not overly lengthy ones... apart from tracks 1 & 5, which are relatively coherent & upbeat, most of the disc is more of a stream of keyboard antics & a feedback here & there. it sounds very improvised, but not too energetic. at times it's desperately needing some structure. i guess the sound can be described like a slowed down, cut up mouse on mars. didn't do much for me, but it's not horrible. david kristian 'national kid' / 'oysterpoint' 12" (discreet/indiscreet) dunno if this is still very new, but it's worth taking notice of. the a-side is kind of low profile, not much melody but a skillfully crafted drum n bass track. the highlight here in my opinion, 'oysterpoint' starts off with that nostalgic boc-like sounding, but kristian's thoughtful, subtly complex beats make the difference. very very nice slab of wax indeed. 310 _prague rock_ promo 12" (prague001) so tom jenkinson & clifford gilberto think they can get away with playing fusion jazz? well, 310 does it with prog rock. if i were smart, i would have figured out the "prague rock" pun & refrained from buying it, but oh well. this actually has its moments, & the music holds its share of healthy sarcasm, which makes up for it. notably track a3, with its vocal sample repeating the word "ironically" over & over, actually made me laugh, although i don't know exactly why. -- david turgeon at http://www.notype.com