From Philip Sherburne Sent Sat, Feb 6th 1999, 19:10
From Philip Sherburne Sent Sat, Feb 6th 1999, 19:10
picked up the new elfish echo 2xlp last night. i had his first cd on source a couple of years ago and finally sold it, put off by the disjointedness of it. but i wholeheartedly recommend this one. it's very firmly in the drum'n'bass vein. and unusually for someone coming outside d'n'b, it's very true to form, while remaining highly experimental. generally i can't conceive of mixing IDM-ish d'n'b, or weird-step drill'n'bass, with "proper" jungle (my tastes for the "proper" run from photek & source direct to optical & matrix, klute, etc... tech-steppy breaks, neurofunk inflections). the breaks tend toward tech-step--hard, crispy, with a two-step flavor (though not dragged down like some two-step tends to be). at the same time, there's an ever-present japaneseness to the sound--highly cut-up, dotted with shimmering pockets like flakes of mica embedded in granite. throughout, it straddles the necessary groove and the tangential urge. highly recommended. phil