From Lance C McGannon Sent Mon, Apr 20th 1998, 00:16
From Lance C McGannon Sent Mon, Apr 20th 1998, 00:16
My job has kept me from doing my reviews so i've fallen a bit behind. But now that things have slowed down somewhat i'll be catching up on the in the next few days. Here's the first batch of reviews for you. Expect three more Recoreview posts in the next few days. ............................................................................ ............................. . Mark Broom: Drift 12" (Mosaic) Pure Plastic label head Mark Broom releasing his first record on the excellent UK Mosaic label. On this three tracker Mark employs a little more melody than he has on his past few releases giving the tracks a classic Ifach/Pure Plastic sound. The a1 starts with a warm synth wash shortly after a nice bassy percussion kicks in. the percussion becomes increasingly more complex as the track progresses. The b1 starts with complex percussion and builds with a light synth line, then a heavy bassline, and accented with an intermittent piano line. The final track is more of a monotone deep techno track with more of that complex percussion that mark broom is so good at. Another gem for the always consistent Mosaic label and probably the best Ifach-sounding tracks since the early Ifach Sympletic, Solcyc, and Eco Tourist records. 8/10 . Anti-Static comp 12" (Spelunk) A cool four track compilation from the Spelunk label of varying styles of electro featuring tracks from Bolzbolz + Rootpowder, Cron, Solvent and Him + Her. The a1, by Bolzbolz + Rootpowder, starts with a vocoder answering machine message then develops into an electro-tinged minimal techno track with a sample that loops through- out the track and intermittent electroish noises. This track is similar to the Bolzbolz + Rootpowder stuff on the Electrecord and Ersatz Audio labels. The a2, by Solvent, is an autechre/musik aus stromish polyrhythmic track with lots of random artifical machine noises similar to his output on the Suction label. The b1, by Him + Her, is another minimal techno-flavored track with a lightly acidic bassline and a repeating "hi" sample. This tracks is much in the same style to the first Spelunk ep "start up." The final track, by cron, is an epic-sounding dark bassy electro track with panning percussion. The track is similar in style to the cron material on the 21/22 corp label. A nice comp showing that not all electro has to be "retro" sounding. 7/10 . Peel Seamus: Elusive Souls 12"(Delsin) Since the summer of '96 the Dutch Delsin label has been releasing excellent abstract electronica and d&b in the vein of the Op-ART or Void labels. On this, their fourth release, Peel Seamus crafts four tracks. The a-side features two warm soulful detroit-flavored techno and electronica much in the same style as the early As One, Stasis or Black Dog records. The b1 is an uptempo jazzy techno number that would fit in well with the recent output of Paul W. Teebrooke. The final track is a lush melodic intelligent d&b track that would sound right at home on the excellent Belgian Void label. Another good release for the Peel Seamus and the Delsin label. 8/10 . Metamatics presents: Jumble Echo 12" (Beau Monde) On this two tracker the Metamatics duo try their hand at some midtempo atmospheric d&b very much in the Photek or Source Direct style. Both tracks have the smooth d&b percussion accented by lush soaring chords and spacey sfx. I'm not a huge fan of d&b but both these two tracks are quite nice. If you liked the Metamatic releases on Clear you should enjoy this one as well. 7/10 . Texta: Geschwiegen... 12" (Craft) I've never been much of a fan of hip hop but recently several unique hybrids of smooth electronics and hip hop have been caught my ear. This german lp by the act known only as Texta is one of them. Nine tracks on this one all merging very clean polished electronic music with hip hop beats, an occasional german mc-ing and/or samples. The thing that separates this album from other "trip-hop" or mo-waxish releases is the emphasis on smooth synthy melodies and a much less-pronounced emphasis on "funk." I guess you could call music like this light hip hop or even intelligent hip hop. Regardless of stylistic name, this very enjoyable album and well worth checking out. 8/10 . Fishcake: The Sound of Thule comp 2x12" (Thule) You wouldn't think that the small arctic island of Iceland would be a place to find high quality techno & tech-house but this Thule label retrospective comp proves otherwise. On this comp are eight tracks that vary in style from dubby techno to ultra-crisp minimal techno to lush tech-house. Favorites on this comp are the basic channel meets studio 1 sound of Plastik's "Brain Plasticy, the smooth dubby Svek-like tech-house of Oz Artists "Art of Wrestling," and the dubby Maurizio-like techno of Exos "Green Beat" track but all eight tracks are good. The snow must keep the icelandic producers indoors all the time producing music because this is amarvellous comp. I'll definitely be hunting down the previous Thule 12"s. 8/10 . Theo Parrish: When the Morning Comes 12" (Filth) KDJ-cohort, Theo Parrish with is first release on the UK Filth label. The a1 title track, "When the Morning Comes," was previously released on last year's outstanding 3Chairs KDJ comp. It's a long gritty KDJ-styled house track built around a looped female vocal sample. The two b-side tracks are cleaner jazzy midtempo housers similar to recent Herbert releases. Another great release from Theo that any KDJ fan will enjoy. 8/10 . Russ Gabriel: Orange Mecanique 12" (Soul on Wax) Ferox headman Russ Gabriel with his second 12" on the Soul on Wax label. Much like his previous release, this 12" features a cool mix of disco & tech-house with a healthy helping of rhythmic funk. The a-side is funky synth-driven jazzy tech- houser track similar in style to the tracks he produces under his Fusion moniker. The b-side is also a funky synth-driven track but with more retro-sounding disco flavor. Overall this a decent 12", but both tracks tend to meander after a short time. I prefer his Ferox material. 6/10 ............................................................................ ............................. BTW: Don't forget our Inaudible netcast every Wednesday from 9-11 pm Eastern Standard Time. Hear John C (Bent Crayon) 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 and cds so yet another reason to tune in. -->-Lance--- p.o. box 450715 westlake, ohio 44145 united states