From Brock Suter Sent Mon, Sep 13th 1999, 08:36
From Brock Suter Sent Mon, Sep 13th 1999, 08:36
Skylab is one of howie b's earlier projects. Check his solo stuff on Mo Wax, Palm Pictures and his own label, Pussyfoot. I haven't heard his latest lp, but after reading the song descriptions at the following site it sounds like it might be along the same lines as the Skylab stuff. http://imusic.interserv.com/showcase/club/howieb.html > Start quote Gallway: subterranean Richter rumble gives way to glass-rubbing circumnavigation and decelerating digipans before Howie drops straight into a quirky freak bleep loop, pliable melodies fizzing in the distance. Sniffer Dog: foghorn pulses and the fluttering stringscrapes of insectoid wings set the scene for driving offbeat drums - angular piano strokes and snare-rolls slowing the search in this paean to the delights of smuggling contraband by accident. Cook for You: throbbing synth swirls rotate through the dimensions, then a Mexican bar band drops the salsa on the floor. Stomach-grumbling bass and shards of analogue dissonance rain down in mercury droplets. Trust: gated oscillations ebb and flow in liquid bursts, bubbling like magma. A veteran squeezebox wheezes asthmatically and the beats hiccup into a funky conga break that alternates with the speaker-freaking waves. Cotton High: a watery sample gets flush and pitted against the crispiest of snares and bouncing bass in this jump-up riddim ting. Anniversary: hard-hitting brass stabs punctuate a rolling groove, soprano stabs wheel overhead and Howie builds the beats, slotting the layers in a side-winding stride. To Kiss You: a head-nodding groove built around an oddball piano and guitar loop that perfectly illustrates Howies' penchance for combining the surreal with the sublime. Maniac Melody: a delectably funky slice of filmic bliss, picking up nostalgic fragments from Paris in the 60s and fusing them with a tasty break, pulsing technotica and a touch of fluid scratching. Animator Run Wrake is providing visuals to this piece of sonic refraction so keep your eyes peeled for the video. Black Oak: a 70s glam rock intro undergoes metamorphosis and the guitar emerges across a pattering hip hop break while white noise waves tumble and space lab whistles echo through the trees. I Can Sing But I Don't: mouth-watering synth melodies are swallowed by melancholy chords and a booming break as Howie spares his vocal chords and lets the samplers sing. She Called Again: a counter-culture spy loop is stretched with strings of tension before reflective swirls pause for thought. A solar breeze shimmers in the haze as Howie build-blocks the samples with trademark sonic tessellation cutting in and out all the way to the climax. > End quote brock