Re: (idm) REVIEW: Slag Boom Van Loon

From Kent Williams
Sent Mon, Dec 14th 1998, 15:08

Thanks for a decent review that captures a lot of what's going on in
Slag Boom Van Loon.

All I can add really is that there seems to be a lot more of MP than
JP in aural evidence in these tracks, kind of like Muziq with a Kurzweil 
K2000 instead of the Roland D50 and Casio FZ-1. All of the tracks have
an improvised feel to them, which can cut both ways.  Jazz musicians
spend their lives trying to perfect their improvisation.   Electronic
musicians tend to regard the actual NOTES played as secondary to just
getting all the gear running at the same time.  Once it's all
humming away, they are content to noodle, rather than go somewhere 
with it.

On this record there are moments (SPC-CH-PN in particular) where you
really do hear two people improving together in a mindful way -- listening
and interacting musically.  Those parts of this record where there is
some live interaction are superlative.  The ones that are noodly are all
the more frustrating because of the effort put into sound design -- it's
like the job is half done.

I've not really followed Speedy J that much, after his first long player
struck me as rather safe and boring -- perhaps unfairly, but it is hard
to overcome first impressions. Maybe it's time to go back and see what I've
been missing ;-)



And the cover art made me want to go back to Rotterdam for Indian food ;-)



kent williams -- xxxx@xxxxxx.xxx