From Che Sent Fri, Aug 21st 1998, 02:10
1994: Global Communication - 76:14 (Dedicated) - this is one of the great ambient albums of all time. Best of all, no names, just numbers, allowing the listener to listen with no preconceptions. 4:02 begins with alien synth tones reminiscent of Reload, then chords come in, building layer after layer, until fading into the alien synths, which are soon overcome by the ticking clock of 14:31 (see ob-selon mi-nos review), along with the soft sound of rain. Slowly building breathiness with an understated piano melody over ticking clocks, it always amazes me when a piece holds my interest for 15 minutes. 9:25 is my favorite track of the album. A simple melody and chords lead into a funky laid-back groove built around a very subtle wah guitar riff. The break at 5 minutes is just so exquisitely syncopated that I have to get up & dance every time I hear it, only to be left drifting dreamily when it stops for the piano riff. I'm going to stop now before I stop blathering, if I haven't already. The song fades into whispering voices, which fade into 9:37, with wind/very low flute sounds kept pace by the slow beacon of a steady beeping. A subtle echoed percussion enters, as does breathy chords, building slowly over a slow bass pulse. 7:39 begins with a slow percussion buildup over chords, until a bassline kicks in, then melody. Then the kick comes on an unexpected beat, causing a delicious tension. 0:54 is "Global Communication" repeated in several languages with lots of weird radio bleeps. This leads into 8:07, also known as Maiden Voyage, which is as blatant a rip-off as I've ever heard outside of Rock music. This is a fairly straightforward copy of Tangerine Dream's "Love On The A Train", with no mention of TanDream on either the album or single. How they got away with this I'll never know. Still, it's a lovely track built around a repeating and hence trancifying muted clavinet melody. 5:23 is a reprise of 8:07, with a beautifully sad soaring synth line in the middle. 4:14 is a return to ambience, simple, yet effective. Finally, there's 12:18, a slow building ambient piece using mostly breathy choral synths, including a gorgeous female solo sound, to achieve orgasm. If I ranked albums by numbers, this would be a 10 of 10. Global Communication - Maiden Voyage (Dedicated) - 2 separate CDs, I think they've since been merged on 1 CD and packaged w/ 76:14 in some countries. Not much here - the original edited down by 7 1/2 minutes, a Spiritualized Electric Boredom, er, Mainline mix, and a new track, Funk In The Fridge are on the 1st CD. Funk In The Fridge is Mark & Tom in funky mode - a solid beat, a funky bassline, flutes, and a groovalicious sax make for 8 minutes of bliss. The 2nd CD has 7'39 (Link and E621 Appliance Of Science Mix), which everyone with New School Science will recognize as being identical to Science Friction, a so so Grid mix, and a really nicely rhythmed Michael Brook mix. Link - Arcadian (Artificial Intelligence 2 - Warp) - 9 1/2 minutes of bliss. The first 2 1/2 minutes are a building tension of synth burblings with a simple piano melody hinting at great things to come. Then the beat kicks, simple, snare on 2 & 4, nailing your physical feet to the floor on the even beats while your astral body soars on the pulsing synth choir sound. Tension, release, tension release, then the heavy flanging pulls the beat into another dimension. Voices, almost understandable, echo in and out. Burble, drone, echo, fade. Link - Avatar (Trance Europe Express 3 - Volume) - this one is Detroitish, 6 minutes of melodic tastiness over 4OTMOFOF beats sandwiched between a minute of wheezy synth texture which serves as the intro & outro. I think this track should be able to go farther in 7 1/2 minutes, but it's still nice. Global Communication - Rollercoaster Rmx (The Grid - Rollercoaster - Deconstruction. 8 1/2 minutes of ambience w/ minimalist beats. Haunting melody, deep atmosphere, stunning. Global Communication - Amor Real (Jon Anderson - The Deseo Remixes - High Street Records) - also on Remotion, 9 minutes of lush chords, bubbly synths, and unconventional percussion, with the distinctive voice of Jon Anderson floating in and out in such a dreamy way that even the most avowed prog-rock hater could enjoy it. Global Communication - Bless This (Jon Anderson - The Deseo Remixes - High Street Records) almost 7 1/2 minutes of a children's choir singing over a plodding echoing beat. Waitasec - that's Jon Anderson's voice, higher than normal (for him that is, his voice has never been normal for a man with testicles, at least I assume he has them, because here he comes off as a castrato), and heavily chorused. A hymn to an unknown god. If you're a fan, you need it. Global Communication - Wild Horse {Global Mix Communication} (Nav Katze - Never Mind The Distortion - Victor Japan/SSR Europe) - 15 minutes of magic, starts with a 6 1/2 minute buildup of swirly synths & indecipherable reverb-drenched Japanese lyrics. Then a simple 3 note bassline that will test your speakers drops in, along with a syncopated snare pattern. Tension & volume builds. At about 10 minutes, the beat drops away to leave you floating on a synthesized ether. The beat comes back in 6/8, with the bassline doubled up & adapted to 6, lending an urgency to the proceedings. A syncopated guitar lick funkifies things, and if you're not dancing now, then there's something wrong with you. If every appendage is flailing to a different beat, there's something wrong widju. This is the true funk - it don't get no better than this. Also on Remotion. Reload - Crazy Dream {Retro 313 Future Memory Mix} (Nav Katze - Never Mind The Distortion - Victor Japan/SSR Europe) - an AFXish unfunky noise stomper that I find painful to listen to. Proof that Mark IS the other Aphex Twin. Bucket Meets Bicycle Pump, Finger Meets Track Advance Button. *Global Communication - Natural High remix (Warp69 - Flagbearer 12" - ?) This is one of my favorite GlobComm tracks. 9 minutes of chill jazzy trip hop. Upright bass, brushes on the snares, a synthy trumpet, and a piano solo that drops into 6 at its climax. A perfect way to end any evening. See Remotion review for more comments. *Reload - 14:31 {Reload Remix} (Various - Space Night - ?) - the mind boggles at what this must be like. Has anyone ever heard it??? *Evolution - T-shirt EVO08 (Evolution) self explanatory. *Chameleon/Link - Amazon Amenity Remix EVO009 (Evolution)- Does anyone have a tracklist for this? Amazon Amenity is the only track I know of, and it's on CD on both TofE and Artcore1. This is track is identifiable by the sample from Ferris Beuhler that says "Life moves pretty fast...if you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it". Very mellow drum&bass, the hook being a dropbass percussion break that's just brilliant. 9 minutes of subtle genius. Chameleon/Global Communication - Evolution Of The Beast Parts I & II (Palm Skin Productions - The Beast Remix 12" - Mo Wax MW029) - Chameleon delivers Part I - very chill drum & bass, about as mellow as it gets, one that I didn't think much of on first listen, but I keep hearing more & more in it. I think I need to put it on CDR so I can listen more often. Part II is a laid-back trip hop take by GlobComm. It's alright, not fabulous. Don't forget there's an Autechre remix on here too, though I prefer Mark & Tom's takes on the song. Jedi Knights - Pubic Funk {live} 12" EVO41 (Evolution) - I don't know if there are other tracks on here, at 2:22 I would hope so, though maybe it's all just a dodge for the sake of TofE (lemme know if you own EVO41 please!) Anyway, Pubic Funk is a brief bit of retrofunk - a Bernie-style lead synth and vocoded vocals over a plodding beat. It'd be funkier with a different beat. 1995: *Reload - Visual Cortex {The Reload Re-definition} (Shaft: Switch (remix) CD (Invitation/Victor VICL-5261) - Japanese remix I haven't heard. The Theory Of Evolution (Evolution EVO10/Warp WARPCD29) - this is a collection of early tracks that most of us would probably not get to hear otherwise. The tracks by Mark & Tom I've reviewed above. There are also some tracks by Matthew Herbert & Stephen Horne, but I don't care for them so I'm not reviewing them. Ok, there are 2 exclusive tracks, Winna & A Tribute To Peter Cook, which last a total of 2 minutes, but they're just kung fu movie samples & farting noises - hardly worth comment. I'd have a hard time recommending this to the casual fan - it's more of an interesting history lesson for the hardcore fan. Reload - Ride (Global Communication Dub Mix) (Softballetforms - Remix For Ordinary People - Victor Japan/SSR Europe) - This is similar in feel to (though totally different than) Arcadian, space & groove; maybe it's the snare on 2 & 4, though this track has a wicked kick that the bottom end falls out of. 7 1/2 minutes, highly recommended. Jedi Knights - Clear 12" (Clear) - I never can tell the A & B sides on British 12"s. To make matters worse, my copy had the labels switched. Anyway, one side leads off with Intergalactic Funk Transmission, which consists of a heavily processed voice blathering on for a minute or so with space chipmunks squealing in your right ear before segueing directly into Jismentalsupersexifunkatasmicthrobalingusaural Delite, which is where the beat starts. Simple beat & bassline goes on & on, gradually flanged, with space zaps, some sort of vocal sample used more as a percussive effect, and an unintelligiblevocoded vocal. Dancefloor fodder which is hard to listen to sitting down. Mumpbrainflam is a reprise of Jismental, with more flanging and no discernible bassline. Note that IFT & Jismental are called Noddy Holder on the New School Science album. The other side starts with Ruak-et & Kok-bah, a short effected voice & sound effect track leading directly to May The Funk Be With You, which is 8 1/2 minutes of electro fun(k) with occasional interjections of the vocoded mantra "May The Funk...Be...With You". Doesn't really go anywhere, but it's fun enough you probably won't notice. Finally, things end with Blaff Reader, sound effects with heavily effected & chipmunked vocals. Now, if you're losing sleep because you have NSS but can't afford the Clear 12", DON'T. The little bits you're missing aren't worth losing sleep over. Really! Still, it's hard to understand why they didn't just put them on the album. *Global Communication - Remotion (Dedicated) - for the casual fan, this disc is a godsend; for the trainspotter, utter frustration. When I bought it, I only lacked The Grid remix. Even more maddeningly, there were 2 tracks from Pentamerous, which should never have been separated from the other 3 tracks on Pentamerous. I just can't listen to them out of context. Plus, the Reload track (not a remix, so why the hell's it on here?) was on A Collection Of Short Stories which was rereleased at about the same time Remotion came out. As a further insult, only one of the two Jon Anderson remixes, Amor Real, is included, so you can't blow off buying The Deseo Remixes, and only one of the Nav Katze remixes, Wild Horse (mistakenly labelled Wild Horses) is here, so you have to buy that too. That leaves us with the remixes of Warp 69's Natural High (originally on a single, also on the compilation Down To The Roach), and The Grid's Rollercoaster as being otherwise hard to get (and I already had Natural High). See elsewhere for reviews. *Link - The Auger (Various - In Order To Dance 5 - R&S) - haven't heard this. *Jedi Knights - The Flow remix (Model 500 - The Flow 12" Part 2 - R&S). This didn't make it to the CDS, neither did the Howie B. mix. What a shame. I haven't heard it. *Jedi Knights - Sandcastles Remix (Bomb The Bass - Sandcastles 12 - ?) I haven't heard this, but I know it also has a Kruder & Dorfmeister, so it's probably worthwhile either way. I'm pretty sure the JK mix isn't available on CD. *Chameleon - Links 12" - (Good Looking) Links is a different version of the Link Amazon Amenity remix, still featuring the Ferris Buehler sample, but the drum&bass is more Bukemized (not to say it isn't good - it's very good). I prefer the dropbass on the other version, but that's just me. Just Close Your Eyes & Listen is a dreamy mellow d&b track. Though it has vocals, they don't bother me (surprisingly). A must if you like the other Chameleon tracks. I believe this track's also on the Eyelid Movies comp. 1996: Secret Ingredients - New York, New York 12" EVO061 (Evolution) - Secret Ingredients is another House imprint from Mark & Tom. The Headphuq Mix is straightahead House, which I find rather boring, at least until this synth pulse comes in in 6 against 8. I guess this is the Headphuq. The flip has the Hyp Mix is more . Bonus is the everything you need to do your own remix, except the sampler. Secret Ingredients - Chicago, Chicago 12" EVO062 (Evolution) - I haven't heard this; I assume it's House. New York Connection - Bless The Funk EP EVO063 (Evolution) - Push is 9 minutes of straightahead House built around a soaring lead synth and a guy singing nonsensically. The synth wigout climax is great, and the track is fairly listenable for House. Bless The Funk is 6 minutes built around a simple break, a murky poorly pitchshifted bass sample, a vocal sample that I can't understand, a funk guitar sample, and a simple synth melody. Not my bag. Messages is more of the same. *Series 7 - ? EVO071 (Evolution) - As if these guys really need another moniker. 4 unidentified 4OTMOFOF tracks. The first could pass for early Reload - slightly stiff beats with weird synthwork, the track sounds like it's from 91 or 92. Once it develops some statistical density it's ok. The next track is a collection of slightly maddening synth noises. The 3rd track is your basic acid track, nothing spectacular. The last track is more weird synthwork. Not their best. Global Communication - The Way/The Deep (Dedicated) - GlobComm inexplicably lapses into House. This was also 2 CDs/12"s, I think, but I got it on a single CD along w/ some remixes by some House dudes. Begins w/ The Way (Secret Ingredients Mix), which I found boring until halfway through its 12 minutes, at which point I found I was sucked in & drifting. The Deep (Original Mix) is ok for House - if it had a more complex beat and a little more melodic development, it'd by a proper GlobComm track. The Way (Original Mix) isn't quite as good - those damn House samples bug me. I'm not going to bother with reviewing the 3 non-GlobComm remixes. Maybe if I had gone to a club the single week that those idiot House DJs would play tracks like this I could appreciate them more, but as an armchair listener, they leave me squirming. Jedi Knights - New School Science (Universal Language) - a production in which the brave knights stray from their electrofunk origins to create a mixed bag. May The Funk Be With You & Noddy Holder are from the Clear 12". One For M.A.W. (I seem to remember M.A.W. stood for Men At Work, but it's late so I could be having false memories) is another steady state piece of dance floor fodder which doesn't sit in the headphones too well. Science Friction is the same as 7'39 from the Maiden Voyage single, with a few seconds of vocoded vocals at the beginning, and some vocals & sound effects at the end. Good, but, it just doesn't have tha JK funk goin' on. The Truth has the ominous synth from Link's Arcadian (seem to remember it on 76:14 too) with industro-beats & vocal samples about extraterrestrials. Lessons goes back to tha JK funk - vaguely electro with vocoding on top. Air Drums From Outer Bongolia begins with a suitably funky old school sample, but then a furious bongo beat which any Prodigy fan will recognize comes in (guess where the Prodigy got it? JK, you know it). This goes on for a bit w/ subtle changes. Dances Of The Naughty Knights begins with a Monty Python sample, then goes into a new electro beat. A little bit easier to listen to at 4 1/2 minutes. Human Blancmange begins with a simple kalimba riff, then a dropbass comes in, then the beat. Subtle changes ensue for 9 minutes, though about halfway thru a vocoded "We Want To...Rock You" comes in. Solina Ascension starts with a bubbly synth, then comes a break, then an organ (a Solina organ, perchance?), then the bassline, then some synth sounds, a melodic bass, & finally subtle vocoded vocals, going on for 11 minutes. This is my favorite track on the album, and not surprisingly, it doesn't really fit in with the previous tracks. Lastly, Afterlife brings back the Solina sound, which, with other synth sounds forms an ambient hymn to end the album. It sounds like Mark & Tom threw whatever tracks they had laying about the studio onto this, so it's sadly lacking in cohesion. Global Communication - The Groove (Dedicated) - GlobComm once again pulls a chameleon (pun intended), this time going for the 70's funkster personae 1st glimpsed on "Funk In The Fridge" (on one of the "Maiden Voyage" CDS's. There is a twist, however. They went out & hired a band to perform the song, complete with (thankfully) minimal vocals. The beat is your basic 4OTMOFOF. Funny how that's boring whether on a drum machine or with a drummer (I know that's flamebait). 2 band mixes, a Modwheel mix which is a little more electronic sounding and closer to my liking, another mix which is trip hoppish & also quite good but too similar, a Palm Skins Productions mix which does a good job of retaining elements of the original while reinterpreting it as a funky groove trance workout (kinda like Ehn on ACofSS), and a mix by Dego which is funky. 35 minutes total running time, all good to very good, depending on how well you can stomach recycled 70's. I have a low tolerance. 1997: Jedi Knights - The Big Ones CD (Universal Language) - 3 tracks of dancefloor oriented fun from Tom & Mark. Catch The Break is reminiscent of the Air Drums From Outer Bongolia track off the album. Big Knockers is another 4OTMOFOF stomper, not very armchair friendly. The other 3 tracks are a Heard Records "sampler". Moroccan Jack by Modwheel (Tom) delivers yet another FOTMOFOF grinder disguised as a call to prayer. The Return by Circulation is a Bulgarian disco number, you guessed it, 4OTMOFOF, with some nice synth & piano. Finally, In To My Thru by The Horn (a veiled MIDI reference?) mails in yet another noise squidge over 4OTMOFOF track (which seems to be what every track I've heard from him sounds like). I just don't get it. 5 tracks, 39 minutes of 4OTMOFOF is more 40TMOFOF than I can tolerate. Your mileage may vary. *Global Communication remixes of Sun Rising (Beloved) (?) - Wow. How do they do it? 2 mixes of this early 90's classic, unfortunately spread over 2 CDS's. One is a deep house take which reworks the bassline to chill effect. The other is a D&B mix, laid-back & mellow with kick like a cup of good coffee with an addshot of espresso. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm is the operative mantra for these two. Not to be missed if you're a GlobComm fan. (As an aside, I'd like to comment on how well I think The Beloved's 1st two album has aged. I keep a 90 min tape of it & various remixes in the car (it's something my wife can listen to) and listen to it far more than I thought I would when I made the tape). Pelusha - Isolation EVO035 (Evolution) - 12" & CD (I'll be happy to trade my 12" for the CD) w/ 2 tracks. Each side is close to 10 minutes long, and is beautiful beatless ambience. More like Global Communication than the last two Global Communication singles. Reload - Archive 12" EVO036 (Evolution) - 3 tracks - Soaring 7:43, 6-8 Rhodes 5:37, 4-4 rhodes 4:50. I haven't heard it. *Global Communication - Jazz Carnival remix (Azymuth - Jazz Carnival 12" - ?) - Saj at Resonance has once again done an amazing job in tracking this down. I'm waiting for it to arrive, so I haven't heard it, but it's supposed to be great. *Global Communication - Civil War Correspondent (PJ Harvey - Civil War Corr. CDS - ?) - haven't heard this one. *Jedi Knights - Home remix (Depeche Mode - Home 2CDs - ?) - I haven't heard this one. Chaos & Julia Set - First Generation Remix EVO081 (Evolution) - Remix of First Generation by Original Raw Lab - I haven't heard it, and I'm not planning to by it since it's a remix OF, not BY, Mark & Dominic. Chaos & Julia Set - Learn To Fight EP EVO083 (Evolution) - First Generation is a very dark, hard drum & bass track. The B side is a remix by Dylan, dark but not as dark as the original. *The Mod Wheel - Spiritcatcher EVO091 (Evolution) - Haven't heard this, I believe this is Tom in solo mode with 3 tracks of Basic Channel style minimalism. *The Mod Wheel - Destination Morocco HRDV001 (Heard): Moroccan Jack is a FOTMOFOF grinder disguised as a call to prayer, which is also on JK's The Big Ones CD. I haven't heard the flip side. *Global Communication - Gorecki remix (Lamb - Gorecki CDs - ?) - I haven't heard this, supposedly drum & bass. *Global Communication - ? remix (Sensorama - Welcome Inset Remixes - ?) - I haven't heard this CD, but it also has remixes by Black Dog & Mouse On Mars, so I'm sure it's worthwhile. 1998: The Mod Wheel - In Da Jungle remix (Playboy - In Da Jungle 12" - Tag) - I haven't heard this. It's almost September & I don't know of anything else Mark & Tom have done this year. After the incredible prolificy of 93 & 94, I guess it's understandable that there'd be a letdown, but this is ridiculous. We can only hope they've got several albums in the bag, just waiting for release. Since it seems like Ben is never going to update the website, I'm going to post this to my website with any additions & corrections I get (PLEASE send me anything you've got). Try http://www.synthcom.com/~zeus8/globcomm.html in a few days for the update. BTW, I've got originals on everything I've reviewed. I'm open to trades of CDRs or originals on all the out of print stuff. Email me. Trivia Q Answer: Evolution Records was named after the Carl Craig track Evolution. Apparently Mark's a big fan. Che