Re: some non-reviews and (idm) Spiralmania!

From laerm
Sent Fri, Sep 4th 1998, 15:13

sorry if i seem evil, but i wasn't planning on replying to this email
until i saw that i disagreed with most everything you said. now, i feel as
if i need to offer the opposite opinion. sorry - guess i'm just bored.

On Fri, 4 Sep 1998, foo chicken wrote:

> download: whoever said they weren't IDM was wrong.  I'm beginning to
> like download a lot, even though they can be a little cheesy, their
> music is almost always "good."  I definitely like "Eyes of stanley
> pain" and "Charlie's family" better than "III", although they're all
> good.  charlie's is probably the best, mostly because it's one of the
> most fucked up and weird things I've ever heard, and I like things
> like that.  eyes is good as well for "industrial noise" content, and
> also has some truly messed up sounds.  III just seems like they
> decided to eliminate the industrial noise and just stick to techno
> with good beats.  I like the others better mainly because I don't have
> a lot of similar stuff, while III is more standard.  oh yeah - is
> skinny puppy worth investigating?

hm. well, i think the best download is _furnace_. even through gen's
babbling, _furnace_ still sounds fresh to my ears. _stanley pain_ was
intense the first time i heard it. blew my socks off. now, i listen to it,
and its like "plbbt. heard that loud crazy noise before." kinda like
watching a slasher flick - by about the 4th time around, nothing grabs you
anymore. i just found _charlie's family_ trite and boring. _III_, however,
seems consistent and seems like it will have staying power. so, to
summarise; _furnace_ was/is interesting, but _stanley pain_ grabbed me
much more, and _III_ seems to be the happy medium.

> meat beat: I managed to score a promo of the new album, and after
> repeated listening, it's pretty damn great.  there's even a great,
> funky jazz number on there that I just love.  jack has managed to
> combine everything great about "original fire" yet retain some of the
> "subliminal sandwich" style that we know and love.  I can't say that
> there's much about it reminds of his early works, ala the classic
> "Storm the Studio" and "99%" (more 99% than STS for sure) but that's
> okay, because it still kicks ass.  if you're masochistic, there are
> some mp3 samples up at the brainwashed site

yeah, jack actually seems to have written a "pop"py album this time
around. not that i mind after the power of SS. it does remind me a great
deal of _99%_, though - and that's my least favourite meat beat album.
example: the upcoming single, "prime audio soup", uses the same drum track
as "helter skelter". i thought it seemed much lighter and easier than SS,
therefore...

> (warning: may require repeated listenings to enjoy)

...it should be pretty easy to grasp the first time around, like _99%_.

> test dept: another great industrial band that has ventured into the
> vast arena of IDM.  their latest "tactics for evolution" may be a
> predictable drum and bass rip off, but at least they did it will.
> only for completists methinks.  however the album which first saw them
> departing industrial was "totality" and it remains the best.  Lots of
> great breakbeats, some nice wailing and totally original -- it made me
> an avid fan, and I highly recommend it.  it is, in fact, worthy of an
> actual review, so i'll listen to it again and send an update.
> totality remixes seem to be some good/lame (I can't decide) punding
> house and techno numbers.  

_totality_ made me ill (especially _totality remixes_), but the comp of
early '90's material, _legacy_, is quite good. rather varied - runs the
gamut from muslimgauze-styled-industrial to hard techno to dub to
whatever. import and domestic have identical tracklistings, but the import
has far better art.

> nocturnal emissions: i'm not sure if they're IDM or not, but I really
> love them.  Your mileage may vary.  When I first heard them, I wasn't
[snip]

whugh! sorry, gut reaction. can't stand these guys. post-gothic wanking.
sorry. but i've seen greg clow hanging out on alt.gothic, so you may have
a backer. ;)

</prat mode>

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                                                                      ####
a disturbance in a system.                                            ####
laerm. @voicenet.com                                                  ####
               a fortune cookie i ate 08/06/98 told me: "a girlfriend is a
                                 wine bottle. a wife is a bottle of wine."