From Lance C McGannon Sent Fri, Mar 27th 1998, 06:22
From Lance C McGannon Sent Fri, Mar 27th 1998, 06:22
New reviews to hopefully generate some constructive list traffic... : ) . Trace Elements 3 comp 12" (21/22 Corp) The excellent 21/22 Corp continues with it's excellent Trace Elements series of compilation eps. This third volume features tracks from Planetary (Dan Curtin), Titonton & Morgan Geist, DAC Crowell, Nu-Era (4-Hero), plus cool two lock grooves by=20 Archetype. The a-side starts with a vintage Dan Curtin track=20 called 'Spin' that sounds like it recorded back in 91 or 92 back=20 when Dan was releasing records on his own Metamorphic label.=20 The a2 is the Titonton & Morgan collab which features their trademark complex mesh of styles - techno, house, ambient,=20 and electro - all in one track. The b starts with an impressive DAC Crowell melodic techno cut which has a nice 4/4 beat with several intertwined synth lines. The b2 is the Nu-Era cut which is a jazzy sax-laden breakbeat track with more of a techno feel than d&b. The ep closes with two locks by=20 Archetype: the first with a bouncy electro feel, the second=20 having a disjointed housey feel. The favorites on this one are the Planetary and DAC Crowell tracks but all are very good. This is, by far, my favorite volume of Trace Elements. Gotta like the mauve-marbled vinyl too. 9/10 . Chill Out comp cd (Sabotage) Even from the first glimpse of this release you know who and=20 what this comp is paying tribute to. Both the covers are almost=20 exact copies of the seminal 1990 Chill Out album by the KLF=20 but in place of sheep there are wolves. The music contained=20 therein is not quite chill out music but rather experimental=20 electronica's answer to it. Artists featured on this come include I-f, Epy, Farmers Manuel, Pomassl, Panacea, Fennesz, Alois=20 Huber, Ryoji Ikeda, Aube, and Bannlust to name a few. The=20 tracks range in styles from noise-like electronica to electro to=20 hard distorted breakbeats (complete with "mu-mu" and "kick=20 out the jams" samples in the latter). Fans of Mego, A-Musik,=20 Sabotage and Sahko will not be disappointed by this one but=20 fans expecting an ambient classic akin to the original Chill=20 Out might be disappointed for experimental challenging=20 flavor on this one. 7/10 . Claude Young: Golem Craft of Ages 12" (Fracture) After releasing a few blistering hard techno eps on the=20 Surface and Djax labels, Claude changes speed here with 4=20 tracks of lush atmospheric techno on this Solid Groove sub- label. The a1 is a long relatively beatless melodic track with=20 intermittent warm synth washes and strings. The a2 features=20 more lush chords over a slow bassy breakbeat with some light bongo percussion. The b1 is a building jazzy electro track with=20 angelic female vocal washes. The ep finishes with a long=20 beatless track wrought with lush synth washes, warm strings and smooth atmospheric textures. Claude definitely had the recliner in mind when he made this one - beautiful stuff. Fans of John Beltran or Detroit Escalator Co will definitely like this one. 8/10=20 . Norken: Southern Soul 12" (Reel) Three tracks of excellent atmospheric techno and tech-house from the people responsible for the Metamatics eps on Clear. The a-side is a beautiful melodic techno reminiscent of=20 a jazzier carl craig. The b1 is a melodic tech-housey number that would fit in well with the current Pacific gear. The b2 is a funky herbert-styled number with a nice string backdrop. I certainly don't remember any of the Metamatics releases being anything like this. I hope they stick to this style in the future. 8/10 . Wier: Laptop 12" (Organised Noise) The third record from the San Fran-based O.N. label sees=20 them venturing into the realm of gritty minimal techno with some cool twists. This ep does a great job combining some of the noiser aspects of the basic channel records - like the intentional pops, clicks, hisses, and scratches -=20 with dark pounding minimal techno. Even the percussion=20 on these four tracks is unique. But all the pieces of these tracks come together to form some of the most appealing minimal techno i've heard in awhile. 8/10 . K=F6ln Kompakt 1 comp cd (Kompakt) Many of the elite producers in the ultra-minimal german=20 techno scene contribute tracks here to this excellent comp.=20 Artists on this one include Kandis, Mike Ink, Thomas Mayer,=20 The Modernist (J Burger), Dr. Walker & Freddy Fresh, M:I:5,=20 Thomas Brinkmann, Pentax, and J=FCrgen Paape to name a few.=20 As you can expect from the parties involved, sparse minimal=20 techno and electronica is the flavor here with no real letdowns throughout the entire comp. Fans of Studio 1, KLAR, Profan=20 and Harvest won't be disappointed, I certainly wasn't. 8/10 BTW: Don't forget our Inaudible netcast every Wednesday from 9-11 pm Eastern Standard Time. Hear John C (Bent Crayon)=20 and I spin two hours of the music we speak so highly of... The show will be accessible by visiting http://www.wcsb.org every Wednesday from 9-11 pm EST. The show will be broad- cast in the AudioActive format (which is actually much better than RealAudio). You can download the Audio Active plugin for free at http://www.audioactive.com/player/ During the Inaudible show we will be giving away promo 12"s=20 and cds so yet another reason to tune in. -->-Lance--- p.o. box 450715 westlake, ohio 44145 united states