From lwtcdi Sent Mon, Mar 30th 1998, 23:20
From lwtcdi Sent Mon, Mar 30th 1998, 23:20
russell jones <xxxxxxxxx@xx.xxxxxxxxx.xx> wrote: > i'm surprised that the arcon 2 record got such a slagging on the list I don't think it got that much of a 'slagging'. Sure some people agreed with the original person who posted saying it was overrated but they hardly tore it to pieces. Most people said it didn't live up to their expectations and that was about all. Pretty subdued responses. Even Irene's reply to this very post was polite, dimplomatic and even a touch apologetic! > when press (...) for it was very positive and the singles sold really > well. A lot of people were praising it on IDM at the time. Guess it's one of those ones that you either love or hate (love if you have it on CD, hate if you have it on vinyl ;-) ) > someone mentioned that the 3lp release was not as complete as the > cd: this is true. the lp is gutted -> only 1/3 of the cd seems to be > there and those tracks are the weakest, as they're more sci-fi ambient > in style. ...in which case I think the 'slagging' is justified. The vinyl was utterly pointless. No good for DJs and useless for home listening completeness too. I'd have preferred it if they'd have crammed the whole cd version on the three vinyl discs it came out on. Formatting like this is just ludicrous, and there's no way I'd have bought it if I'd have known it was only 1/3 of what was on the CD. Admittedly some of the CD stuff came out previously on 12" so I'll probably end up tracking those down at some point in the future. > But, i'd have to say that 3/4 of the album (the cd...) is brilliant. leon > mar's programming is miles beyond people like dillinja and optical (yes, > i did say that) Well I'm only going on all this 'bad' Leon Mar stuff I've heard, but I'd have to say that *maybe* he's on a par with Optical, but he hasn't got anything on the mighty Dillinja. And anyway, does 3/4's brilliance and 1/4 very dissapointing make for a really good LP? I don't know... Certainly those three ambient sections which appeared as one long track on the vinyl would have been better placed at intervals throughout the LP. > arcon 2 is more about twisting the > break to mind-bending extremes while retaining a solid groove. (your > squarepusher's and animals-on-wheelses may be able to fit more beats > into a bar, but what they produce has none of the power and pathos of a > song like zorak or k.j.z) I dunno. Maybe you're coming at it from a different angle to me. KJZ is nice, and it's fairly complex and very well done, but doesn't make me want to groove (nothing wrong with that per se, but you can have both). > Of course, > the last arcon 2 single (neut/shock) was pretty negligible, despite > having a nice little groove to it. Yeah, I heard this one too, and wasn't very keen on that either. Too simplistic and formulaic IMO... > two-step jungle is hardly what i > expected, and even leon mar can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. Erm, wait a minute, it's not a remix or anything. He *chose* to make '2 step jungle' did he not, therefore in your opinion restricting himself to only being able to make a "sow's ear" as you put it. So basically what you're saying is that he chose to make a fairly average record. Fair enough. Not many artists are beyond doing this... > Now, As far as remixes go, his retooling of that neotropic song is one of his > weakest moments. This may or may not be the case for me, but the track certainly isn't weak and it *is* my favourite Leon Mar thing I've heard so far. I have a feeling it's probably the exact clone of something on the CD version of the Arcon 2 album which I've not heard, but still... > check out his mix of silicon valley on the j.majik full > length and be amazed. Now there's something I never got around to buying, the J Majik LP. In fact I'd almost forgotten about it. A very low profile release... > So, if anyone is really interested in hearing the best stuff leon mar has > done, it's best to hunt down the singles he's recorded for reinforced > under his own name. this is much jazzier stuff and leaves out the spooky > synths in favour of deep, almost housey keys and vocals. there's a > record called "running/the men who fell to earth" that remains my all > time favourite jungle record (after k.j.z...) Is this 'Silent Running'? My local shop have had this for an age. It's right at the back of a whole rack of stuff so it's kind of been overlooked. I might well check this out next time I'm down there... > i heard there's a full-length coming on reinforced. Yeah, that's what Reinforced say. I'm looking forward to it, but like I said before I'll definately be listening before I buy... Graham. -- [b]r[e]a[k]b[e]a[t] [e]r[a] _ Roni Size Reprazent Krust Die Suv Full Cycle Dope http://www2.prestel.co.uk/lwtcdi/era/ Dragon V Philly Blunt Chronic Protocol [profiles][discographies][sounds][interviews][news]