From spacecake Sent Thu, Apr 16th 1998, 06:00
From spacecake Sent Thu, Apr 16th 1998, 06:00
crossfader entertainment compilation: land speed record (PP005)
f/unit mobeius, rude66, i-f, and some other people which
i can't decipher 'cause the friggin track listing is
written backwards
dear brian, (or whoever is manning the controls at idm-r)
i present this mean 'ol cat of a compilation for your
consideration. i realize that you may not have enough money
now to frivolously spend on any CD that gets reviewed on idm-l
but you might want to keep an eye out open for this one...
for one thing brian, this cd is one baaad mofo. featuring
lots of ugly, uneasy and unsymphathetic atmospheres which suggest
that the music has been recorded eminating from long, dark, wet tunnels...
wicked. however, if you're unfamiliar with the bunker/acid planet sound(to
which this comp is very related), i can only describe it as VERY lo-fi
(shitty sound quality), raw and angry... and tottaly on the opposite side
of the spectrum from detroit techno.
the good thing about this comp though, is that if it came out
five or six years ago, i could almost gurantee that it would be a classic.
i find it to very in the joyrex4,9 and analouge bubblebath
2,3 vein (although not as 'intelligent' sounding) crossed with a bit of
photek's sparsity (on the "dnb" style tracks). most of the tracks feature
dark minimal(!) melodies (AB3 style) over angry distored beats and
break-neck hard acid(a la J9) doodling (which would probably sound great if
played LOUD). all in all it holds up pretty well, and has
a good:crappy track (there are 14) ratio.
the bad thing is that it came in 1997 and it sounds dated. i got this
sense of deja-vu on every track... i got this sense of deja-vu on every
track... and lots of comparisons kept popping into my mind
as i listened. plus, some of the hyper hard acid tracks are just too noodly
for me- i think the comp is at its strongest on the dark melodies, but then
again that might be because of my idm tastes...
and i might also add that the price is a bit too steep, for $22 i found
myself wanting something more 'rounded' and polished.
so brain, i'm not sure whether i would positvely recommend this
comp to you, because it isn't for everyone- if you're into the lo-fi bunker
sound, or if you see it for $14 or $15 then this is worth it.
but, if you don't have a chance to listen before you buy, you might want to
save your money for something else...
plus quickie for *you* brain:
substance - sessions elements (CRD-05)
(man, i don't know i keep buying this stupid shit, it all sounds the
friggin same... but i love it anyway....)
after the excellent monolake release i thought this one
has a lot to live up to... and it doesn't *quite* make it imo...
i guess it is very similar in feel to the maurizio 12" comp CD (which
turns out i have already, but picked up by mistake anyway. heh heh heh.
see, i don't even care what i buy as long as it comes in a cool metal tin.
i have been completely brainwashed.) but i like this one just a little bit
better 'cause it has higher ratio of cool filtery stuff:to stripped down,
minimal beat tracks...
my only problem with this CD is that it feels 'fragmented'...
this may be caused by some short (under 2min) tracks which just don't
seem to 'fit' between the longer ones and the fact that this is a comp
CD. however if you're a chain reaction/BC addict like myself, this is one
essential. if you're not, and looking for a starting point, you might want
to try monolake or the basic channel compilation CD instead...
(btw, i find all the CR relases to be great for listening on rainy
days... just something about that sound... mmmmmmm.)
so that's it for now brian, take it easy on those eyeballs!
:spacecake: