From lwtcdi Sent Wed, May 6th 1998, 18:11
From lwtcdi Sent Wed, May 6th 1998, 18:11
>> Interesting to hear people rating Black Secret Technology, but I'm
>> afraid I have to say that it's not one of my fave drum and bass
>> releases. There's some interesting tracks, but to my ears the drums are
>> clatterly and all over the place, and even though it was slightly ahead
>> of it's time there's no excuse for not making the drums rip - see 4
>> Hero's Parallel Universe for a better early drum and bass LP.
> I think Gerald's drum programming has always been excellent. He gets some
> amazing textures from his rhythms
I agree with the 'textures' bit of that, but that's precisely why I'm
not into it that much. Making textures from your beats is fine, but for
me textures and beats are two different things, and the beats on this LP
just aren't the way I like them to be in drum and bass. They don't move
me in any way, and the production sounds 'off' to me, cluttered and
messy. It's exactly the opposite of what I was expecting when I bought
it, which was some serious rhythm. Really it is an attempt to make a
challenging album with a sound on the edges of drum and bass and aimed
at the more experimental and listening end of the market. That's not to
say I'm not open to other interpretations of the typical drum and bass
sound, but so far I haven't heard any that really stand on their own,
and at the time "Black Secret Technology" came out it wasn't what I was
after I all. Even now I still find it hard to see what the real fuss
was/is about.
> on both BST & 28 Gun Bad Boy (the total
> mindfuck jungle album - it gets better every time I listen to it, and it
> rated as a great album the first time I heard it. Hard to believe it's
> from '92).
Well, I can't comment on this release as I don't own it, but I have
heard this is his 'proper' jungle album and I would love to hear it just
to see how it compares to "Black Secret Technology". It would give me a
better idea of whether the sound on BST was a concious decision to
change the way beats were used in hardcore/drum and bass or whether
Gerald just couldn't ever cut it much beats wise. Not that it really
matters, I still don't care for BST much either way, but it'd certainly
be interesting to make that comparison.
> 4 Hero, at least on Parallel Universe, tends to be a little more Catholic
> in their drum programming to maintain their dancefloor cred.
I dunno. I find it hard to see how there was anything Catholic about the
breaks on that LP at the time it came out. It might sound quite
traditional now, but at the time there wasn't very much like it around,
and it certainly turned my head around to possibilities using breakbeats
in music. Almost anything that avoided the dreaded 4/4 beat seemed like
a godsend. Well, that's not strictly true, there were still shit and
good records on both sides, but boy did that 4/4 start to get tedious.
> I'm glad they
> strayed from that a bit w/ Jacob's Optical Stairway. But, if you want
> some really ripping tracks, try out their "Paranormal In 4 Forms"
> (MacroDubInfection),
I have this on cassette somewhere, but I forget what it sounds like.
Don't remember it being partcularly devastating beat-wise, but I may
stand corrected if I ever find it in all these cassettes!
> or the JOS remix of System 7 on the Foundations comp.
That's one I've missed...
> Anyone care to comment on the "Jacob's Story" EP
> that came out on R&S about a year ago? I've been meaning to buy it for
> too long.
Yeah, I didn't hear much about this one either. Never picked it up
myself, so I can't say. Wasn't it one new track and a couple of remixes,
or something like that. Didn't justify the cost for me, but then I never
heard the new track, it might be a classic. Seemed to get overlooked at
the time for some odd reason. Anyone got the lowdown?
Graham.
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