From Irene McC Sent Wed, Nov 19th 1997, 12:36
A few reviews of some music new to me that I've recently been wrapping my ears around - including alternate opinions on stuff already discussed and some not so new bits and pieces, but anyway - here goes /// All opinions are totally subjective, so please don't flame, kill, maim or disfigure ::: ANIMALS ON WHEELS : Designs and Mistakes (Ninja Tune) Oweeeeee!!! This is *it*. All that's been said about this and more holds true : an excellent release and so late in the year a definite contender for my favourite album out of '97. Swirly, swishy, swoopy in places, meaty, beaty, big 'n bouncy in others - atmospheric, innovative, reflective, eclectic - it's all here (and I can't spot the moniker's mistakes). Brilliant. Geddit. NOW. AS ONE : Planetary Folklore (Mowax) Still very new to me and unexplored, though "21st Century Soul's" recent utterance that this was 'one of those seminal albums' somewhat surprises me. It immediately strikes me as far more interesting and varied than last year's The Message in Herbie's Shirts and has excellent moments on it - but maybe it's a grower. I'll play it again, Sam. (Q: Why is this Mowax and other As One material comes out on Clear?) FLUKE : Risotto (Astralwerks) Yes ! Serve up a big dish of this - it's hot ! My recent question posed to this list about it netted mixed reviews and somebody likened it to Underworld. Though that wouldn't have sprung to my mind, I can see where it's coming from. Okay, so stick Underworld and Orb/livion into a blender and give the whole blend a Deep Dish sheen and off you go. Maybe that's not entirely fair... hard to categorise, but certainly an enjoyable (and melodic) listen. Not for those of you who love unmitigated noizz. BILL LASWELL MEETS STYLE SCOTT INNA - Dub Meltdown (WordSound Recordings) Well - trying to be nice here - the best thing about this is the actual green and black disc itself. Kewl :-/ As for the content [sigh] Mr. Laswell sure churns 'em out convenyor belt style and this one is certainly going to be enhanced by the mean green combustible, but no, I wouldn't even want it thumping in the Kombi while watching the boyz surf. Boring to the n-th, dubby noodling with pretentious titles. It's been done before and better. DROME : Dromed (Kiff) This German 'techno explorer' gentleman, Bernd Friedmann, was somebody new to me and I'm glad to have made his acquaintance. Ice cool ambient dubby tr*ph*p IDEAL to drift off on happy somnolent journeys to. Let the 50 minutes run, then push 'repeat' - you won't regret it, as it lulls your mind into a fuzzy state of woozy wellbeing. Oooooh, nice. SUBROSA : Underwood (SubRosa) This '96 sampler features an interesting slew of culprits : Seefeel / Scanner / MoM / Islamic Diggers / Mick Harris / Bill Laswell et al. Opening track is supplied by N^us (who?) : a sublimely beautiful and haunting song titled "Lament" but the voice is Tom Jones does Peter out of Type O Negative. Pity, because it's actually the standout track here. These rest come and go without grabbing my by the ankle, although I do seem to have been playing it rather a lot. Only jarring appearance comes from Laibach, who seem to be a little out of place amongst the others on offer. OLIVE : Miracle (EP) (BMG) Not my usual fare, this, but worth a look-in due to its 6 mixes and running time of 40 minutes. After the predictably pedestrian Radio Edit & Extended mixes, we get the Deep Dish Miracle of Dub Remix which throbs and ebbs and swells beautifully, then into the Monkey Mafia remix, which punches and steams, followed by Roni Size's kickin' remix, this EP's killa - complete with deliberate staccato stuck-CD-sound cut-ups and then into Black Olive's Deeper Dub final track... not bad all in all. DEATH IN VEGAS : Twist & Crawl EP (Deconstruction) Bit of a letdown for someone who adored Dead Elivs. Here we have the magnificent ska track the British Beat originally did with lots of rasta rapping but minus the melody line. Two short mixes : Edit & Full Mix. No surprises here, but yeah ... good for a party. Tracks 3 & 4 are Opium Shuffle off the album - Dead Elvis mix, followed by Mankey Mafia mix (they get around, huh?!) No, I'm not sorry I've got this (pretty cover!) but I'll reserve it for manic moods when only the *loudest* will do, and I can dance myself into an anonymous stupor in my bedroom..... nuff said :-) Thanks for your time. *************************** SUBSTAR ************************* "Incomplete without surface noise" - Autechre