Liquid Frog Records: 2022
After kicking off my block of 'C' albums with ten volumes of Caravan Of Healing Sounds, we had to wait until the end of this batch for another item of Juan Pablo's to appear again. Technically, there's two down here, Crystal Vision and Cycle, but the latter was already covered in the consolidation collection of N:L:E and Kiphi material Between Dreams Or Reality. Well, okay, there's one other track on the Cycle single, a shorter beatless version, but doesn't warrant any more attention than what I'm providing in this sentence. The original version is better, and I've done sorted that out. Let's stick to Crystal Vision here, and worry not about redundant releases. I've plenty more music from Mr. Giacovino as it is.
Have to admit, I'm surprised at seeing another 'collaboration' between these two aliases this far into Juan Pablo's discography. I thought he'd fully kept them separate at this point, finding enough distinct characteristics with his Kiphi project (specifically looping melodic arps) such that it didn't need the N:L:E bump helping it along.
Then again, he put out another N:L:E & Kiphi joint just this past December, Lights Between. And another prior in June called Floating Orbs. Hmm, maybe he just likes releasing them around solstices? *checks month of Crystal Vision* Oh, this one came out in May. Welp, so much for that theory. Also, I know I've said it before, but good God is this man ever relentless in his output. My last proper review of one his albums, Botanical Adventures, was late December, and he's added five more releases since. That makes for thirty more releases since I bulk-bought his Bandcamp catalogue! Almost makes me thankful I did buy in when I did.
Three tracks are the main feature of this EP, with alternate versions featured in the back-half. The titular opener certainly imparts visions of shimmering crystals, pulsing bright synths and angelic flowing pads building upon each other, eventually ebbing out for a little gentle piano playing. Follow-up Lifetime ups the energy some, bringing in a simple rhythms and soaring synth work that'll have it nestled nicely within the realms of AstroPilot psy-chill. The tune fades down, and while Ilusion is billed as a separate track, it essentially carries on from Lifetime with similar music themes, going more minimalist and groovy as it does.
And the rubs? Crystal Vision [ Retouched ] brings in an ambient dub groove, Lifetime [ NLE Version ] surprisingly goes beatless (isn't N:L:E the alias with the beats?), and Ilusion [ NLE Version ] extends out with a little Tubular Bells building before going full psy-chill itself. That one at least tracks.
That's another item out of Mr. Giacovino's catalogue covered, then. Still a long way to go before finishing his discography off, but take heart, intrepid readers, there's not a whole lot in the 'D' block coming up. At least, nothing where I'll have to 'cheat' again with a bevy of microblogging recaps.
Showing posts with label EP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EP. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Sunday, March 10, 2024
Sun Project: Marco & Matt - Crazy Stories
Suntrip Records: 2022
In the beginning, there was only one S.U.N. Project, and it was good. Sure, a little silly with the metal guitars mashing with psy trance, but these chaps fully committed to the bit, going whole ham on the shredding action. Not wanting to get type-casted as just the 'buttrock goa' guys, the trio flitted about other forms of psy in the ensuing decade, even getting into that darker, minimalist vein many adopted for a spell there. Maybe hitching onto that potentially lucrative Infected Mushroom hype (“Hey, we guitars too!”). At the turn of the '10s, however, a split occurred, Maik Hinkelmann going off to create McCoy's S.U.N. Project, while Marco Menichelli and Matthias Rumoeller became Sun Project – Marco & Matt.
How... does that even happen? The retention of the project name for both parties, I mean. Like, could you imagine if Metallica split apart, but James and Lars got to both use the band name, save some minor punctuation differences – Hettfield's Metal-Allica versus Lars & The Metallicas. I'm assuming the S.U.N. Project members, not wanting to get all embittered, resentful, and tied up in legal courts over a silly psy trance alias, amicably came to this compromise. Which version should you check out if you want the more 'authentic' S.U.N. Project experience? Heck if I know, I haven't kept that close of tabs on either side. Heck, I only learned of this split when I started my preliminary research into this here Crazy Stories EP. It took me entirely too long to finally understand why it wasn't listed under S.U.N. Project's regular Discogs page.
Which still makes it something of a conundrum. Crazy Stories and the other tracks included on this four-tracker were initially made back when Maik was still making music with Marco and Matt. Although they remained unreleased in all this time, they are not credited to S.U.N. Project, but instead to Misters Menichelli and Rumoeller's Sun Project. And for that matter, why these particular tunes? Best I can glean, Crazy Stories, Space Dwarfs, Casio-Paya, and Out Of My Brain were songs Maik doesn't have writing credits on, so are fair game for Marco and Matt to re-release under Suntrip Records' 'classic goa trance' banner. Always something regarding copyright retention, I guess.
And the tunes themselves? Yeah, it's classic goa trance through in through. Driving rhythm, driving acid, spacey synths and pads. What's most interesting about these cuts is, as they're chronologically sequenced (from '96 to 2000), you can hear how psy was evolving in that time. From the straight-forward trance vibe of Crazy Stories (1996 Mix), to growing ever more darker and twisty by Casio-Paya (1998 Mix), to things getting stripped down by Out Of My Brain (Acid Remix). An intriguing snapshot of a scene morphing before our ears.
Oh, and the guitar action? Only heard on Out Of My Brain. Hey, I said S.U.N. Project wasn't just about the shredding, even if it was their most endearing trait.
In the beginning, there was only one S.U.N. Project, and it was good. Sure, a little silly with the metal guitars mashing with psy trance, but these chaps fully committed to the bit, going whole ham on the shredding action. Not wanting to get type-casted as just the 'buttrock goa' guys, the trio flitted about other forms of psy in the ensuing decade, even getting into that darker, minimalist vein many adopted for a spell there. Maybe hitching onto that potentially lucrative Infected Mushroom hype (“Hey, we guitars too!”). At the turn of the '10s, however, a split occurred, Maik Hinkelmann going off to create McCoy's S.U.N. Project, while Marco Menichelli and Matthias Rumoeller became Sun Project – Marco & Matt.
How... does that even happen? The retention of the project name for both parties, I mean. Like, could you imagine if Metallica split apart, but James and Lars got to both use the band name, save some minor punctuation differences – Hettfield's Metal-Allica versus Lars & The Metallicas. I'm assuming the S.U.N. Project members, not wanting to get all embittered, resentful, and tied up in legal courts over a silly psy trance alias, amicably came to this compromise. Which version should you check out if you want the more 'authentic' S.U.N. Project experience? Heck if I know, I haven't kept that close of tabs on either side. Heck, I only learned of this split when I started my preliminary research into this here Crazy Stories EP. It took me entirely too long to finally understand why it wasn't listed under S.U.N. Project's regular Discogs page.
Which still makes it something of a conundrum. Crazy Stories and the other tracks included on this four-tracker were initially made back when Maik was still making music with Marco and Matt. Although they remained unreleased in all this time, they are not credited to S.U.N. Project, but instead to Misters Menichelli and Rumoeller's Sun Project. And for that matter, why these particular tunes? Best I can glean, Crazy Stories, Space Dwarfs, Casio-Paya, and Out Of My Brain were songs Maik doesn't have writing credits on, so are fair game for Marco and Matt to re-release under Suntrip Records' 'classic goa trance' banner. Always something regarding copyright retention, I guess.
And the tunes themselves? Yeah, it's classic goa trance through in through. Driving rhythm, driving acid, spacey synths and pads. What's most interesting about these cuts is, as they're chronologically sequenced (from '96 to 2000), you can hear how psy was evolving in that time. From the straight-forward trance vibe of Crazy Stories (1996 Mix), to growing ever more darker and twisty by Casio-Paya (1998 Mix), to things getting stripped down by Out Of My Brain (Acid Remix). An intriguing snapshot of a scene morphing before our ears.
Oh, and the guitar action? Only heard on Out Of My Brain. Hey, I said S.U.N. Project wasn't just about the shredding, even if it was their most endearing trait.
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
George Issakidis & Speedy J - Collabs 400 & 401
NovaMute: 2005
Th'ar be the acid! Just took a French touch to get there. TB-303 action aside, I have to say these Collabs with George Issakidis are the most interesting of the lot, and not just because they stray far from the regular techno workouts as already heard from Jochem's pairing with Adam and Chris. Okay, it's almost entirely because of that too, because in accommodating Monsieur Issakidis' aesthetic into his own, it resulted in some of most unique sounds out of Jochem's discography ever. Which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise considering the former Micronaut was also responsible for the Superior Version of Block Rockin' Beats.
As for how this pairing came about, I assume George was itching to get involved in the 'proper techno' scene after splitting off on his own – anything to escape the big-beat stigma. Some chance meeting with Jochem resulted in the two discovering shared mojo in working on music together, and here we are.
The first cut out of this, Looks Something Like You, is a ten-plus minute outing of steady, noisy bedlam. Really, it sounds like an extended jam session, the two playing all manner of filter and effects over the bare-bones acid house lurking underneath. While of a much lower BPM than the other tracks thus featured in the Collabs series, the intensity is no less gratifying. Hell, some of the percussion could very well be industrial, rattling off like machine gun fire and all. That may just be something for the 'old heads' though, as what was truly blowing up at the time in Francophone lands was sleazy, filthy, abrasive acid, so here's that in the form of Understand What I'm Saying on the flip of Collabs 400. Holy shit, how can this thing go for nearly eleven minutes, and never grow weary or repetitive? The warped vocals are fun enough as it is, but throw in all the distorted, clanking percussion along the way, and you have the closest thing to Speedy J going Ed Banger you'll ever hear!
Okay, maybe that was all a bit much for the techno purists out there, so on Collabs 401, the pair slow things way down on Overblaak, a quite minimalist piece where the TB-303 gets the most shine. Even here though, just the little things, like a mint, crunchy skippity-shuffle on the beat, has you hanging on every minute of its near-fourteen worth. Kaalbrevo, meanwhile, decides to get dubby on the distorted acid vibes, the duo providing a track that would fit snugly in a vintage Swayzak set. This, too, breaches a dozen minutes in length, but somehow holds your attention with every flange and filter effect thrown in. Not that I'd expect anything less ol' Issakidis.
Which is what I should say, if I'd actually heard more of his work outside this and early Micronauts. Time to do some more diggin' and he's got a rather skint discography after all. Mm, well, at least it won't take as long to sift through as Gerd's.
Th'ar be the acid! Just took a French touch to get there. TB-303 action aside, I have to say these Collabs with George Issakidis are the most interesting of the lot, and not just because they stray far from the regular techno workouts as already heard from Jochem's pairing with Adam and Chris. Okay, it's almost entirely because of that too, because in accommodating Monsieur Issakidis' aesthetic into his own, it resulted in some of most unique sounds out of Jochem's discography ever. Which shouldn't come as too much of a surprise considering the former Micronaut was also responsible for the Superior Version of Block Rockin' Beats.
As for how this pairing came about, I assume George was itching to get involved in the 'proper techno' scene after splitting off on his own – anything to escape the big-beat stigma. Some chance meeting with Jochem resulted in the two discovering shared mojo in working on music together, and here we are.
The first cut out of this, Looks Something Like You, is a ten-plus minute outing of steady, noisy bedlam. Really, it sounds like an extended jam session, the two playing all manner of filter and effects over the bare-bones acid house lurking underneath. While of a much lower BPM than the other tracks thus featured in the Collabs series, the intensity is no less gratifying. Hell, some of the percussion could very well be industrial, rattling off like machine gun fire and all. That may just be something for the 'old heads' though, as what was truly blowing up at the time in Francophone lands was sleazy, filthy, abrasive acid, so here's that in the form of Understand What I'm Saying on the flip of Collabs 400. Holy shit, how can this thing go for nearly eleven minutes, and never grow weary or repetitive? The warped vocals are fun enough as it is, but throw in all the distorted, clanking percussion along the way, and you have the closest thing to Speedy J going Ed Banger you'll ever hear!
Okay, maybe that was all a bit much for the techno purists out there, so on Collabs 401, the pair slow things way down on Overblaak, a quite minimalist piece where the TB-303 gets the most shine. Even here though, just the little things, like a mint, crunchy skippity-shuffle on the beat, has you hanging on every minute of its near-fourteen worth. Kaalbrevo, meanwhile, decides to get dubby on the distorted acid vibes, the duo providing a track that would fit snugly in a vintage Swayzak set. This, too, breaches a dozen minutes in length, but somehow holds your attention with every flange and filter effect thrown in. Not that I'd expect anything less ol' Issakidis.
Which is what I should say, if I'd actually heard more of his work outside this and early Micronauts. Time to do some more diggin' and he's got a rather skint discography after all. Mm, well, at least it won't take as long to sift through as Gerd's.
Labels:
2005,
acid,
acid house,
dub,
EP,
George Issakidis,
Speedy J,
techno
Monday, February 19, 2024
Chris Liebing & Speedy J - Collabs 300 & 301
NovaMute: 2004/2021
I initially thought maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have to do these, the Chris Liebing collaborations well and sorted on the Metalism album concurrently released with the singles. A brief glance at the LPs' track list reveals three out of the four tunes making their way on, so nothing more I can say about them, right? Just move onto the next item and- oh, wait, that one on there is called Triflon, whereas this one's called Treflon. And having already gone through Jochem's penchant of making differing tracks with remarkably similar titles save a single vowel, these two will be different as well, right? Right. And whereas the single featured a Trezcore, the album has Acid Trezcore, while the Tricko on Metalism is a live version. Throw in a totally unique cut among the two Collabs with Liebing called Drippelzimmer, and yep, I do believe we have completely original material distinct from the album. Guess I gotta' get on that proper-like, then.
Or heck, I'll 'cheat' a little, wrap the two into one single review. Better for all, I wager.
Collabs 300 kicks off with the aforementioned Tricko, in its original incarnation. It's structurally the same track as heard on Metalism, a steady, pummelling piece of techno business gradually adding rhythmic layers before doing a little 'bring it down, then all back' in the back-half. An effective tool, then, but man, hearing all that extra club resonance and crowd hollering in the live cut... just can't be beat. Just goes to show how much more effective this stuff sounds live than sitting at home with headphones on. So much more energy. Just... so much more. Meanwhile, Treflon is a far superior version of the basic premise of Triflon. I wasn't much impressed by the bouncy, tech-house nature of its Metalism counterpart, but then I wasn't much impressed by anything among that album's opening salvo. Treflon may still over-use the crunchy-squishy percussion and distorted minimal vocals, but dammit, at least this version has a proper techno pulse to it. Still didn't need got'dang twelve-plus minutes of it, no matter how much fun I'm sure Chris and Jochem had jamming away making it.
Collabs 301 is kinda' the same, in that there's one better version of a track than as found on Metalism, and one lesser version. Okay, that's cheating, since I can't confirm nor deny there's a Metalism counterpart to Drippelzimmer. Really, any of the 4am warehouse bosh cuts could be one, since this is more of that. Quite minimal in its production too, in that there isn't a whole lot going on beyond the usual assortment of percussive fills and pull-backs. Again, standard fare for Liebing and Paap techno of the time, which I'm sure worked quite well in their sets. Trezcore, on the other hand, can't help but sound inferior to Acid Trezcore because, well, there's no acid. Yeah, it pummels just fine and all but where's the acid? Wh'ar th' ACID!? Nowhere she be, but on Metalism.
I initially thought maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have to do these, the Chris Liebing collaborations well and sorted on the Metalism album concurrently released with the singles. A brief glance at the LPs' track list reveals three out of the four tunes making their way on, so nothing more I can say about them, right? Just move onto the next item and- oh, wait, that one on there is called Triflon, whereas this one's called Treflon. And having already gone through Jochem's penchant of making differing tracks with remarkably similar titles save a single vowel, these two will be different as well, right? Right. And whereas the single featured a Trezcore, the album has Acid Trezcore, while the Tricko on Metalism is a live version. Throw in a totally unique cut among the two Collabs with Liebing called Drippelzimmer, and yep, I do believe we have completely original material distinct from the album. Guess I gotta' get on that proper-like, then.
Or heck, I'll 'cheat' a little, wrap the two into one single review. Better for all, I wager.
Collabs 300 kicks off with the aforementioned Tricko, in its original incarnation. It's structurally the same track as heard on Metalism, a steady, pummelling piece of techno business gradually adding rhythmic layers before doing a little 'bring it down, then all back' in the back-half. An effective tool, then, but man, hearing all that extra club resonance and crowd hollering in the live cut... just can't be beat. Just goes to show how much more effective this stuff sounds live than sitting at home with headphones on. So much more energy. Just... so much more. Meanwhile, Treflon is a far superior version of the basic premise of Triflon. I wasn't much impressed by the bouncy, tech-house nature of its Metalism counterpart, but then I wasn't much impressed by anything among that album's opening salvo. Treflon may still over-use the crunchy-squishy percussion and distorted minimal vocals, but dammit, at least this version has a proper techno pulse to it. Still didn't need got'dang twelve-plus minutes of it, no matter how much fun I'm sure Chris and Jochem had jamming away making it.
Collabs 301 is kinda' the same, in that there's one better version of a track than as found on Metalism, and one lesser version. Okay, that's cheating, since I can't confirm nor deny there's a Metalism counterpart to Drippelzimmer. Really, any of the 4am warehouse bosh cuts could be one, since this is more of that. Quite minimal in its production too, in that there isn't a whole lot going on beyond the usual assortment of percussive fills and pull-backs. Again, standard fare for Liebing and Paap techno of the time, which I'm sure worked quite well in their sets. Trezcore, on the other hand, can't help but sound inferior to Acid Trezcore because, well, there's no acid. Yeah, it pummels just fine and all but where's the acid? Wh'ar th' ACID!? Nowhere she be, but on Metalism.
Literon & Speedy J - Collabs 200
NovaMute: 2004/2021
Sometimes I'm thrown for a loop in how many gaps remain in my electronic music knowledge. Granted, no one can know everything - even Lord Discogs, the Lord That Knows All, doesn't know all there is know. I'd like to think I know more than most, but even then, my expertise will always be filtered through what I am exposed to, and what I can make the time to expose myself to. When it comes to localized scenes that didn't get much shine beyond their regions, I likely remain rather ignorant of the who's who in the what's what.
Which is just a roundabout way of me saying I know nothing about Gert-Jan Bijl, the man behind Literon. He's apparently had quite a fruitful career in the lands of Dutch, making techno and other assorted sounds across multiple aliases and collaborative project since the early '90s to this day. He even got into the label business in the '00s, 4 Lux Recordings, still going... well, still going. Gerd is probably his most recognizable handle (Arkest's Blaze a groovy techno classic), though ol' schoolers may also know him as part of Sensurreal. And here's me, only having heard two tracks of his in all that time. One is Time And Space off Marcel Fengler's Berghain 05, the other hopelessly obscure. 'Tis a single cut on the compilation Excursions In Ambience, Afterglow, as part of the trio It's Thinking, including Mark Ripmeester and Dirk-Jan Hanegraaff. Hell, that's not even the trio's most successful alias, that honour going to Sunshower.
Anyhow, even if the fruitful career of Mr. Bijl came as a surprise to me, that he would collab' with one of the Netherlands' most famous techno sons in Speedy J is not. Far as I can tell, Literon was Gert's alias used whenever he wanted to go a little more Detroit than Euro in his techno, but was rather flexible overall – I even get a hint of trance in the track Villar Kone! Since bangin' 4am business was where techno was going at the turn of the century, so did Literon, and what better time to mesh musical ideas with Jochem than then?
Track one Snacker is a serious thumper, but aside from rattling percussion and abrassive, noisy fills, doesn't do much beyond standard techno tools stuff for its eight minute duration. Still, wonderful space between all these sounds, much more so compared to the bricked nature of the Adam Beyer collab'. Knicker on the flip is definitely the more interesting of the pair, more of a tech-house stomper with a seriously twitchy, almost glitchy rhythm. If anything was going to give off the Detroit vibes you might have expected going into this (a long stretch, I'll grant), then this track gets there reasonably well. And at keeping its length under six minutes, its loopy nature doesn't overstay its welcome.
To be honest though, I'm far more interested in digging into Gerd's extended discography than replaying these tracks anytime soon.
Sometimes I'm thrown for a loop in how many gaps remain in my electronic music knowledge. Granted, no one can know everything - even Lord Discogs, the Lord That Knows All, doesn't know all there is know. I'd like to think I know more than most, but even then, my expertise will always be filtered through what I am exposed to, and what I can make the time to expose myself to. When it comes to localized scenes that didn't get much shine beyond their regions, I likely remain rather ignorant of the who's who in the what's what.
Which is just a roundabout way of me saying I know nothing about Gert-Jan Bijl, the man behind Literon. He's apparently had quite a fruitful career in the lands of Dutch, making techno and other assorted sounds across multiple aliases and collaborative project since the early '90s to this day. He even got into the label business in the '00s, 4 Lux Recordings, still going... well, still going. Gerd is probably his most recognizable handle (Arkest's Blaze a groovy techno classic), though ol' schoolers may also know him as part of Sensurreal. And here's me, only having heard two tracks of his in all that time. One is Time And Space off Marcel Fengler's Berghain 05, the other hopelessly obscure. 'Tis a single cut on the compilation Excursions In Ambience, Afterglow, as part of the trio It's Thinking, including Mark Ripmeester and Dirk-Jan Hanegraaff. Hell, that's not even the trio's most successful alias, that honour going to Sunshower.
Anyhow, even if the fruitful career of Mr. Bijl came as a surprise to me, that he would collab' with one of the Netherlands' most famous techno sons in Speedy J is not. Far as I can tell, Literon was Gert's alias used whenever he wanted to go a little more Detroit than Euro in his techno, but was rather flexible overall – I even get a hint of trance in the track Villar Kone! Since bangin' 4am business was where techno was going at the turn of the century, so did Literon, and what better time to mesh musical ideas with Jochem than then?
Track one Snacker is a serious thumper, but aside from rattling percussion and abrassive, noisy fills, doesn't do much beyond standard techno tools stuff for its eight minute duration. Still, wonderful space between all these sounds, much more so compared to the bricked nature of the Adam Beyer collab'. Knicker on the flip is definitely the more interesting of the pair, more of a tech-house stomper with a seriously twitchy, almost glitchy rhythm. If anything was going to give off the Detroit vibes you might have expected going into this (a long stretch, I'll grant), then this track gets there reasonably well. And at keeping its length under six minutes, its loopy nature doesn't overstay its welcome.
To be honest though, I'm far more interested in digging into Gerd's extended discography than replaying these tracks anytime soon.
Adam Beyer & Speedy J - Collabs 100
NovaMute: 2003/2021
Is this finally the end, my friends? Have we come the conclusion of these Speedy J reviews, the Collabs series all that remains? Well, of what I got from that initial Bandcamp bulk buy, yes. Wouldn't you know it though, Jochem added a couple more singles after the fact, a two-EP run as The Melody. Not to mention everything else he's released from 2010 on. Can't say I'm inclined to complete the total collection at this point, well and truly sated on all things Speedy J for now. Well, maybe that Nice EP - I like it whenever Mr. Paap throws actual melody into his tunes, even if only back in the day.
Yeah, I don't think there's any beating around the bush in knowing what we're in for here. To this day, Adam Beyer is known as that uncompromising dude rinsing out uncompromising techno, making a tidy business for himself out of it. This came out in the early days of that movement, before everything went completely M_nus minimal, Beyer and his cohorts at the top of this european techno domain. As Speedy J's Loudboxer was part of this movement, its natural that he'd work with these lads in churning out a few records here and there. Collabs 100 was the first, picking up right where the Loudboxer singles left off.
Come to think of it, I'm not entirely sure where Adam Beyer ends and Speedy J begins with these two cuts. I'll grant this is more to do with the unfamiliarity I have with Adam's general body of work, knowing him more for his aesthetics than particular production tricks. I'd assume the little bit of body movin' bassline in Sjab is his contribution, as I don't recall many of Jochem's music containing something like that. It's certainly repetitive enough to fit the Beyer mold. Does that mean the industrial clanking and sketchy synth stabs are Speedy's work? Why am I even psycho-analyzing such a relentlessly boshing track? This is straight-up 4am warehouse workout music, pummelling from the get-go, going full bore for a good eight minutes, save a requisite mid-track breather. There's a few fun flange moments towards the end, and provides a nice minute-long wind-down, leading me to believe Sjab was strictly constructed as a set ender. I mean, what else could you follow such an intense track up with?
A b-side called Basj, I guess, though obviously not in the same set. Or maybe in the earlier portions of said set. Regardless, it's not as bang-on as Sjab, actually somewhat subtle in comparison. What it really reminds me of though, L.S.G.'s The Train Of Thought! It's the sporadic splashes of dubby echo, y'see, not to mention just how frenetic the rhythms sounds, not much removed from Oliver Lieb's tech-trance opus. For sure this is still firmly in techno's domain, but considering how unmelodic and stale the genre would soon become, hearing something like this is quite nice indeed.
Is this finally the end, my friends? Have we come the conclusion of these Speedy J reviews, the Collabs series all that remains? Well, of what I got from that initial Bandcamp bulk buy, yes. Wouldn't you know it though, Jochem added a couple more singles after the fact, a two-EP run as The Melody. Not to mention everything else he's released from 2010 on. Can't say I'm inclined to complete the total collection at this point, well and truly sated on all things Speedy J for now. Well, maybe that Nice EP - I like it whenever Mr. Paap throws actual melody into his tunes, even if only back in the day.
Yeah, I don't think there's any beating around the bush in knowing what we're in for here. To this day, Adam Beyer is known as that uncompromising dude rinsing out uncompromising techno, making a tidy business for himself out of it. This came out in the early days of that movement, before everything went completely M_nus minimal, Beyer and his cohorts at the top of this european techno domain. As Speedy J's Loudboxer was part of this movement, its natural that he'd work with these lads in churning out a few records here and there. Collabs 100 was the first, picking up right where the Loudboxer singles left off.
Come to think of it, I'm not entirely sure where Adam Beyer ends and Speedy J begins with these two cuts. I'll grant this is more to do with the unfamiliarity I have with Adam's general body of work, knowing him more for his aesthetics than particular production tricks. I'd assume the little bit of body movin' bassline in Sjab is his contribution, as I don't recall many of Jochem's music containing something like that. It's certainly repetitive enough to fit the Beyer mold. Does that mean the industrial clanking and sketchy synth stabs are Speedy's work? Why am I even psycho-analyzing such a relentlessly boshing track? This is straight-up 4am warehouse workout music, pummelling from the get-go, going full bore for a good eight minutes, save a requisite mid-track breather. There's a few fun flange moments towards the end, and provides a nice minute-long wind-down, leading me to believe Sjab was strictly constructed as a set ender. I mean, what else could you follow such an intense track up with?
A b-side called Basj, I guess, though obviously not in the same set. Or maybe in the earlier portions of said set. Regardless, it's not as bang-on as Sjab, actually somewhat subtle in comparison. What it really reminds me of though, L.S.G.'s The Train Of Thought! It's the sporadic splashes of dubby echo, y'see, not to mention just how frenetic the rhythms sounds, not much removed from Oliver Lieb's tech-trance opus. For sure this is still firmly in techno's domain, but considering how unmelodic and stale the genre would soon become, hearing something like this is quite nice indeed.
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Tune - Change The Beat
R & S Records: 1991/2021
This has to be Jochem's most obscure project. Yeah, those in the know know who it is, while R & S Records is hardly some dingy underground techno label lost to the mists of time. If I hadn't told you this was from Speedy J though, would you even be able to tell? Okay, maybe if you sat down and listened to the darn thing, you could, though you'd have to have a near perfect memory of all his early '90s works to work that out.
More what I'm getting at though, is the alias he chose for this is the most nondescript thing you could imagine. Obviously he couldn't just use Speedy J again, as that was a Plus 8 exclusive. No, wait, Jochem used that name for Pull Over as well, and that came out on Music Man Records the same year. Maybe he wanted to completely distance himself from it, as R & S wasn't seen as quite the serious techno label yet, with their own pile of rave producers – C.J. Bolland, Joey Beltram, Human Resource, and the like. Don't worry though, you'll be called 'The Belgian Warp' soon enough. Just wait until their Apollo sub-label launches, then you're in for some real serious shit!
Where was I? Oh, right, Tune. What's up with such a plain-jane name like that? Was Jochem just hard pressed to come up with something when submitting these tracks for pressing? Did he figure they wouldn't have much hope of standing out among R & S' heavy hitters, so here's an utterly forgettable one before receding back to the comforting embrace of the Detroit upstart? He certainly never felt compelled to return to this alias or R & S, Change The Beat his lone contribution to either. Hell, even Public Energy got two singles out of Jochem.
I can't deny, I almost had Pull Over worry in the way the titular cut starts, a stupidly simple note played over a thudding beat and off-beat bassline. Things actually get a little more clever along the way though, a lone backing string added, some sparkly synths bringing flair, and a couple decent little bass drop fills. When everything finally gets going in full motion, including a pleasant little pad melody, I'm ready for things to properly take off for- oh, the track's already done. Dang, wish he'd gotten to the good stuff sooner.
Tonight is the 'funner' track though, what with vibrant rhythms, orchestral stings, and gnarly synths winding about. Yeah, this definitely fits better on the Belgian rave label. Just to remind folks he's actually a Dutch-Detroit techno producer though, b-side Extrasensory gets on that Motor City retro-future jam session. And unlike the other two, this track gets an extra couple minutes to strut its stuff. Not sure what folks coming into this expecting Dominators would think, but surely European ravers were aware of music such as this, right? Or were they only hankering for hoovers and pianos?
This has to be Jochem's most obscure project. Yeah, those in the know know who it is, while R & S Records is hardly some dingy underground techno label lost to the mists of time. If I hadn't told you this was from Speedy J though, would you even be able to tell? Okay, maybe if you sat down and listened to the darn thing, you could, though you'd have to have a near perfect memory of all his early '90s works to work that out.
More what I'm getting at though, is the alias he chose for this is the most nondescript thing you could imagine. Obviously he couldn't just use Speedy J again, as that was a Plus 8 exclusive. No, wait, Jochem used that name for Pull Over as well, and that came out on Music Man Records the same year. Maybe he wanted to completely distance himself from it, as R & S wasn't seen as quite the serious techno label yet, with their own pile of rave producers – C.J. Bolland, Joey Beltram, Human Resource, and the like. Don't worry though, you'll be called 'The Belgian Warp' soon enough. Just wait until their Apollo sub-label launches, then you're in for some real serious shit!
Where was I? Oh, right, Tune. What's up with such a plain-jane name like that? Was Jochem just hard pressed to come up with something when submitting these tracks for pressing? Did he figure they wouldn't have much hope of standing out among R & S' heavy hitters, so here's an utterly forgettable one before receding back to the comforting embrace of the Detroit upstart? He certainly never felt compelled to return to this alias or R & S, Change The Beat his lone contribution to either. Hell, even Public Energy got two singles out of Jochem.
I can't deny, I almost had Pull Over worry in the way the titular cut starts, a stupidly simple note played over a thudding beat and off-beat bassline. Things actually get a little more clever along the way though, a lone backing string added, some sparkly synths bringing flair, and a couple decent little bass drop fills. When everything finally gets going in full motion, including a pleasant little pad melody, I'm ready for things to properly take off for- oh, the track's already done. Dang, wish he'd gotten to the good stuff sooner.
Tonight is the 'funner' track though, what with vibrant rhythms, orchestral stings, and gnarly synths winding about. Yeah, this definitely fits better on the Belgian rave label. Just to remind folks he's actually a Dutch-Detroit techno producer though, b-side Extrasensory gets on that Motor City retro-future jam session. And unlike the other two, this track gets an extra couple minutes to strut its stuff. Not sure what folks coming into this expecting Dominators would think, but surely European ravers were aware of music such as this, right? Or were they only hankering for hoovers and pianos?
Friday, December 29, 2023
Speedy J - Bugmod
NovaMute: 2002/2021
The last single to be properly spun off from Loudboxer, this. Yes, I know Tanga kinda'-sorta' was too, but none of those tracks featured on the album, no matter what the similar artwork suggests. Speaking of, holy cow, I can't believe I didn't notice it before, but gander at that black stripe beside Bugmod there. Know what's under it? It's Krekc! And Tanga had both this and Krekc blotted out in white above as well. Oh man, I love it when spin-off singles maintain a running theme – makes them feel more like part of a proper series than some disjointed association.
But wait, you say, there be no Bugmod on Loudboxer either. Is this another Tanga situation, where we'll get a Bugmod, a Buugmod, and a Bugmood? No, but we do get a little more Krikc and Krekc, by way of remixes. The other two tracks on this EP are strictly Speedy J originals, so let's have a listen in.
And Bugmod pretty much picks up where the rest of Loudboxer left off, an unrelenting pummelling of percussion, the snare and hi-hats tasting a touch of flange. An off-beat bleep is the only thing resembling any sort of hook, but earworms is not the point of this cut. There's also a nifty little 'fade it down, bring it all back' peak, which makes Bugmod a little more useful for set construction than just another tool to throw down, but better be quick on your next draw, 'cause this track ends quite abruptly. On the flip, Glov at first seems like it might be the 'deeper' option, the pounding beatcraft simpler and steady. Then what's this? An actual hook? Okay, it's still just synth stabs keeping pace with the rhythm, but they build upon each other, retreat, coalesce, retreat, and so on. It's the closest thing to a melody that Jochem gives out of the whole Loudboxer enterprise, and you'll love it, darn it all!
The remixes, then. DJ Rush handles the first, on Krekc. I'm not really familiar with this techno veteran, though he is Jeff Mills Approved, so there's that. Lord Discogs also tells me I have at least one other of his tracks, on... wait djmixed.com/keoki? Really!? Haha, never would have expected that. Anyhow, his go with Krekc is pretty much more techno bosh, with a little transistor tweeting knob twiddlin'.
On the other end is Umek, who I definitely know, so no need to get into details there. He gets to have a go with Krikc and holy cow, is this ever a blinder of a cut. I'd actually forgotten just how much of a banger the original is, and Umek sees no point in taming this beast for his use. Instead, he throws in an actual hook, a simple sweeping little thing oscillating as it carries on. It's not even harsh or gritty as you'd expect of techno in this vein, surprisingly gentle on the ears even as the beats punch your chest cavity into submission.
The last single to be properly spun off from Loudboxer, this. Yes, I know Tanga kinda'-sorta' was too, but none of those tracks featured on the album, no matter what the similar artwork suggests. Speaking of, holy cow, I can't believe I didn't notice it before, but gander at that black stripe beside Bugmod there. Know what's under it? It's Krekc! And Tanga had both this and Krekc blotted out in white above as well. Oh man, I love it when spin-off singles maintain a running theme – makes them feel more like part of a proper series than some disjointed association.
But wait, you say, there be no Bugmod on Loudboxer either. Is this another Tanga situation, where we'll get a Bugmod, a Buugmod, and a Bugmood? No, but we do get a little more Krikc and Krekc, by way of remixes. The other two tracks on this EP are strictly Speedy J originals, so let's have a listen in.
And Bugmod pretty much picks up where the rest of Loudboxer left off, an unrelenting pummelling of percussion, the snare and hi-hats tasting a touch of flange. An off-beat bleep is the only thing resembling any sort of hook, but earworms is not the point of this cut. There's also a nifty little 'fade it down, bring it all back' peak, which makes Bugmod a little more useful for set construction than just another tool to throw down, but better be quick on your next draw, 'cause this track ends quite abruptly. On the flip, Glov at first seems like it might be the 'deeper' option, the pounding beatcraft simpler and steady. Then what's this? An actual hook? Okay, it's still just synth stabs keeping pace with the rhythm, but they build upon each other, retreat, coalesce, retreat, and so on. It's the closest thing to a melody that Jochem gives out of the whole Loudboxer enterprise, and you'll love it, darn it all!
The remixes, then. DJ Rush handles the first, on Krekc. I'm not really familiar with this techno veteran, though he is Jeff Mills Approved, so there's that. Lord Discogs also tells me I have at least one other of his tracks, on... wait djmixed.com/keoki? Really!? Haha, never would have expected that. Anyhow, his go with Krekc is pretty much more techno bosh, with a little transistor tweeting knob twiddlin'.
On the other end is Umek, who I definitely know, so no need to get into details there. He gets to have a go with Krikc and holy cow, is this ever a blinder of a cut. I'd actually forgotten just how much of a banger the original is, and Umek sees no point in taming this beast for his use. Instead, he throws in an actual hook, a simple sweeping little thing oscillating as it carries on. It's not even harsh or gritty as you'd expect of techno in this vein, surprisingly gentle on the ears even as the beats punch your chest cavity into submission.
Thursday, December 21, 2023
Robert Hood - The Blueprint EP
REKIDS: 2021
I guess it's rather sad that it's taken me this long to give minimal techno legend Robert Hood some proper attention 'round these here parts. At least I finally have, right? Sure, but as usual I just can't do things logically, like grab one of his seminal classics such as Internal Empire or Point Blank. Not even a DJ mix like his contributions Fabric or DJ-Kicks. Okay, fine, at least I settled for a single, of which there's numerous, but even then it's some cock-eyed way of doing things. No Minimal Nation, no Red Passion, nothing from his usual labels like M-Plant or Music Man Records, while ignoring his time with the almighty U.R. Nope, just a second EP out on Radio Slave's label, REKIDS. Look, it just happened to be the one I glanced at, and if releasing new techno on Matt Edwards' print is okie-dokie by the Detroit don', it's good enough for me.
It'd be easy to spend the bulk of this 'review' going on about Mr. Hood's history, as if my regular readers haven't a clue of his legacy. And hey, maybe I will, should I finally spring for some of his Very Important records that you should have, even if you're not a Robert Hood fan. Doing so here and now though, feels like I'd be doing his recent output a disservice. Like, cool and all there's respect for the back catalogue, but sometimes artists would prefer it if folks hyped up their recent efforts too, put them in just as loving gaze. Is The Blueprint EP one such record that can be brought up as such?
Well, it starts out unfussy enough, opener Chroma Light doing the classic minimal techno thing without any of the stupid ticks the genre gathered in the following decades. The beat thumps proper, occasionally with extra bass, the twitchy hook is simple with plenty of flange at appropriate points, and backing synths build tension as the tracks plays out. Shame it's not even six minutes long, I coulda' grooved to this for longer.
The main attraction, however, is The Majestic, as there's two versions on this four-tracker. There's not much difference between the two, besides the Deeper Edit being, well, deeper. Both clearly have 'main room' or 'peak hour festival' written all over them, a big, boisterous hook coming in and out as straight-forward minimal bosh carries on. I guess that leaves closer Ultrasonic Room one for the 'real heads', barely a hook to be had, but a fun, subtle build featured just the same.
Should I mention there's a slight difference between digital and vinyl of this record? For some reason, both Majestics are lumped together in the middle here, but are separated as A1 and B2 for the black crack addicts (the Deeper Edit way off on the far side, naturally). Mind, this may have just been a pressing error, since they're labelled the same as the digital version. Talk about vintage.
I guess it's rather sad that it's taken me this long to give minimal techno legend Robert Hood some proper attention 'round these here parts. At least I finally have, right? Sure, but as usual I just can't do things logically, like grab one of his seminal classics such as Internal Empire or Point Blank. Not even a DJ mix like his contributions Fabric or DJ-Kicks. Okay, fine, at least I settled for a single, of which there's numerous, but even then it's some cock-eyed way of doing things. No Minimal Nation, no Red Passion, nothing from his usual labels like M-Plant or Music Man Records, while ignoring his time with the almighty U.R. Nope, just a second EP out on Radio Slave's label, REKIDS. Look, it just happened to be the one I glanced at, and if releasing new techno on Matt Edwards' print is okie-dokie by the Detroit don', it's good enough for me.
It'd be easy to spend the bulk of this 'review' going on about Mr. Hood's history, as if my regular readers haven't a clue of his legacy. And hey, maybe I will, should I finally spring for some of his Very Important records that you should have, even if you're not a Robert Hood fan. Doing so here and now though, feels like I'd be doing his recent output a disservice. Like, cool and all there's respect for the back catalogue, but sometimes artists would prefer it if folks hyped up their recent efforts too, put them in just as loving gaze. Is The Blueprint EP one such record that can be brought up as such?
Well, it starts out unfussy enough, opener Chroma Light doing the classic minimal techno thing without any of the stupid ticks the genre gathered in the following decades. The beat thumps proper, occasionally with extra bass, the twitchy hook is simple with plenty of flange at appropriate points, and backing synths build tension as the tracks plays out. Shame it's not even six minutes long, I coulda' grooved to this for longer.
The main attraction, however, is The Majestic, as there's two versions on this four-tracker. There's not much difference between the two, besides the Deeper Edit being, well, deeper. Both clearly have 'main room' or 'peak hour festival' written all over them, a big, boisterous hook coming in and out as straight-forward minimal bosh carries on. I guess that leaves closer Ultrasonic Room one for the 'real heads', barely a hook to be had, but a fun, subtle build featured just the same.
Should I mention there's a slight difference between digital and vinyl of this record? For some reason, both Majestics are lumped together in the middle here, but are separated as A1 and B2 for the black crack addicts (the Deeper Edit way off on the far side, naturally). Mind, this may have just been a pressing error, since they're labelled the same as the digital version. Talk about vintage.
Saturday, December 16, 2023
Dance With The Dead - Blackout
Neuropa Records: 2020
Hey, remember when me reviewing one Dance With The Dead release per month for half a year felt like over-exposure? Good times. Actually, I don't know if that really was this case with this synth-metal duo, but I cannot deny I was personally running out of things to shoot the shit with in short order. Maybe a new wrinkle here, or a dodgy bit of production back there, but by and large, you throw on one Dance With The Dead record, it's probably gonna' sound like any other.
Fortunately, it's been a whopping ten months since I last talked this band up. On one hand, holy cow, has it really been that long? Considering the last album I reviewed was The Shape, it just goes to show how massive this ongoing alphabetical queue of mine is. Yet that also means much of what I've said about Dance With The Dead has probably left all of your brain-noggins (yay short-attention span internet generation!), so I could start all over again, as though this was my first DWtD review. Wait, it's just another EP, and a three tracker at that? Dang it, that's not much to go off of at all.
Actually, the fact this is an EP is something of a talking point, in that the duo seldom released them. I know that may seem weird considering I've already covered two (Into The Abyss and Send The Signal ...itself barely stretching what should be considered an EP), but those came early in DWtD's existence. When the creative fires are burning bright enough for full-length albums, what need is there for short players keeping one's name out there? Especially with what was undoubtedly a productive tour schedule to boot. I guess things were taking a little longer to materialize after Loved To Death though, so here's a little something in anticipation for another road trip and what's that? Everything gotta' shut down for a year or two? Well shit, guess Blackout will be all that's heard from Dance With The Dead for a while after all. Timely, that.
Scar doesn't waste any time getting us into the action, a gnarly bass lead and propulsive rhythm kicking us into high gear. I'm almost reminded of Felix da Housecat's Rocket Ride, but once the bright synths and bleepy fills join the action, it's familiar Dance With The Dead territory. All that's missing is a bit of Tony Kim's shredding and... there it is, at the peak, but so brief. Huh, guess this was Justin's moment to shine. Just as well, since second track Ravens In The Sky slows things down a little, providing more guitar action among all the epic synths and whatnot. Man, almost too epic, getting into Dutch trance territory. Final track The Dawn is pure head-bangin' fare, or hair whip if that's your game. For those of us who are follicly challenged, however, a simple neck snap and throwing up of the devil horns will suffice.
Hey, remember when me reviewing one Dance With The Dead release per month for half a year felt like over-exposure? Good times. Actually, I don't know if that really was this case with this synth-metal duo, but I cannot deny I was personally running out of things to shoot the shit with in short order. Maybe a new wrinkle here, or a dodgy bit of production back there, but by and large, you throw on one Dance With The Dead record, it's probably gonna' sound like any other.
Fortunately, it's been a whopping ten months since I last talked this band up. On one hand, holy cow, has it really been that long? Considering the last album I reviewed was The Shape, it just goes to show how massive this ongoing alphabetical queue of mine is. Yet that also means much of what I've said about Dance With The Dead has probably left all of your brain-noggins (yay short-attention span internet generation!), so I could start all over again, as though this was my first DWtD review. Wait, it's just another EP, and a three tracker at that? Dang it, that's not much to go off of at all.
Actually, the fact this is an EP is something of a talking point, in that the duo seldom released them. I know that may seem weird considering I've already covered two (Into The Abyss and Send The Signal ...itself barely stretching what should be considered an EP), but those came early in DWtD's existence. When the creative fires are burning bright enough for full-length albums, what need is there for short players keeping one's name out there? Especially with what was undoubtedly a productive tour schedule to boot. I guess things were taking a little longer to materialize after Loved To Death though, so here's a little something in anticipation for another road trip and what's that? Everything gotta' shut down for a year or two? Well shit, guess Blackout will be all that's heard from Dance With The Dead for a while after all. Timely, that.
Scar doesn't waste any time getting us into the action, a gnarly bass lead and propulsive rhythm kicking us into high gear. I'm almost reminded of Felix da Housecat's Rocket Ride, but once the bright synths and bleepy fills join the action, it's familiar Dance With The Dead territory. All that's missing is a bit of Tony Kim's shredding and... there it is, at the peak, but so brief. Huh, guess this was Justin's moment to shine. Just as well, since second track Ravens In The Sky slows things down a little, providing more guitar action among all the epic synths and whatnot. Man, almost too epic, getting into Dutch trance territory. Final track The Dawn is pure head-bangin' fare, or hair whip if that's your game. For those of us who are follicly challenged, however, a simple neck snap and throwing up of the devil horns will suffice.
Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Yaghan - Yaghan's Land E.P
Liquid Frog Records: 2018
Before you ask, yes, this is titled Yaghan's Land from 'Yaghan', and yes, this is still the same Juan Pablo Giacovino project that would immediately after be referred to as Yahgan. And no, this isn't some weird typo or misprint on his part. Truth is the two had been interchangeable for centuries, with many other variants floating about in that time, depending on era and European interpretation. So it goes with Native American peoples, even ones living in as remote a region of the global south as one can get without crossing into Antarctica. If you want to be respectful and proper-like with their lineage, however, Yahgan is the correct name for history's southernmost mini-civ'. I'm guessing when Juan Pablo launched this side-project, 'Yaghan' was the version he was most familiar with, then promptly switched to the traditional 'Yahgan' after digging a little deeper into the subject. And since The Internet never forgets, just kept the original EP name and title as-was. 'Tis fine, really it is.
As for how early into Mr. Giacovino's catalogue this came out, Yaghan's Land came out quite early indeed. Bandcamp chronology dates this just after Wave Bio Collector, and since this was another release of his I had to submit to Lord Discogs' archives (that whole 'Yaghan / Yahgan' thing is gonna' be a doozy for moderators, no doubt), I have to assume it was self-released. Or maybe it came out on some ultra-obscure netlabel with, like, three releases on it? I'm getting way too deep into the weeds of these details! Somehow seems appropriate given how many of his N:L:E albums focus on micro-fauna.
Anyhow, the EP opens with a titular track, lasting a mere three minutes long. Okay, that may seem long if this was any other dance music genre EP, but as this is a pure ambient piece with cystaline synths and wind-swept atmosphere, you'd think more time would be spent settling us into the frigid Yahgan climate. It's also quite grandiose compared to the rest of the EP, follow-up Travelling a far more subtle affair. There's still that sense of being out on the frontier, but remote and isolated. Soft rhythmic patters and melodic pulses gradually emerge as singular synth strings ebb and flow in support, but never reach a rousing crescendo, keeping things on the calm and tranquil, even if a little epic vibe is implied towards the end.
On the other end of the EP are two parts of Rupture In The Echo, totally some twenty-three minutes of playtime. The first is also a mostly ambient affair, the softest pitter-patter offered as a sporadic rhythm. Simple synth drones and distant waves make up the bulk of this piece, a remarkably soothing journey of minimalist tones. In case you need a little more pep in your tunes though, Part 2 brings in actual ambient techno beat to the fray, dubby effects thrown on for flair. Cool, but I rather prefer the beatless option. Makes for nice dozing music.
Before you ask, yes, this is titled Yaghan's Land from 'Yaghan', and yes, this is still the same Juan Pablo Giacovino project that would immediately after be referred to as Yahgan. And no, this isn't some weird typo or misprint on his part. Truth is the two had been interchangeable for centuries, with many other variants floating about in that time, depending on era and European interpretation. So it goes with Native American peoples, even ones living in as remote a region of the global south as one can get without crossing into Antarctica. If you want to be respectful and proper-like with their lineage, however, Yahgan is the correct name for history's southernmost mini-civ'. I'm guessing when Juan Pablo launched this side-project, 'Yaghan' was the version he was most familiar with, then promptly switched to the traditional 'Yahgan' after digging a little deeper into the subject. And since The Internet never forgets, just kept the original EP name and title as-was. 'Tis fine, really it is.
As for how early into Mr. Giacovino's catalogue this came out, Yaghan's Land came out quite early indeed. Bandcamp chronology dates this just after Wave Bio Collector, and since this was another release of his I had to submit to Lord Discogs' archives (that whole 'Yaghan / Yahgan' thing is gonna' be a doozy for moderators, no doubt), I have to assume it was self-released. Or maybe it came out on some ultra-obscure netlabel with, like, three releases on it? I'm getting way too deep into the weeds of these details! Somehow seems appropriate given how many of his N:L:E albums focus on micro-fauna.
Anyhow, the EP opens with a titular track, lasting a mere three minutes long. Okay, that may seem long if this was any other dance music genre EP, but as this is a pure ambient piece with cystaline synths and wind-swept atmosphere, you'd think more time would be spent settling us into the frigid Yahgan climate. It's also quite grandiose compared to the rest of the EP, follow-up Travelling a far more subtle affair. There's still that sense of being out on the frontier, but remote and isolated. Soft rhythmic patters and melodic pulses gradually emerge as singular synth strings ebb and flow in support, but never reach a rousing crescendo, keeping things on the calm and tranquil, even if a little epic vibe is implied towards the end.
On the other end of the EP are two parts of Rupture In The Echo, totally some twenty-three minutes of playtime. The first is also a mostly ambient affair, the softest pitter-patter offered as a sporadic rhythm. Simple synth drones and distant waves make up the bulk of this piece, a remarkably soothing journey of minimalist tones. In case you need a little more pep in your tunes though, Part 2 brings in actual ambient techno beat to the fray, dubby effects thrown on for flair. Cool, but I rather prefer the beatless option. Makes for nice dozing music.
Friday, August 25, 2023
Tracing Xircles - Xenolith
Blue Hour: 2022
Not too much to dig into with this EP. The particulars are already mostly covered elsewhere on this blog, the names behind this moniker and all that. Well, half of it at least, as Tracing Xircles is a collaboration between Blue Hour head-honcho, erm, Blue Hour. Luke Standing, that is. The other goes by A-JX on Bandcamp, but Lord Discogs lists him as Simon Pilkington (also: AJ-X ...which is it!?). There isn't much else on him within the Discoggian tomes, so can't help you there.
In any event, the two paired up half a decade ago for a debut EP titled Gaia's Requiem. As befitting a record with that sort of name, it's a rather chill affair, but as this was still Blue Hour's early years (the label and the artist!), some exploratory works are allowed. By the time the two reconvened for a second record, Air Lock, they got back to the spacey techno pulse that defined much of Blue Hour's work. And when I finally stumbled upon this label, they had just put out their third EP, this here Xenolith. Not a bad run at all, but it's apparently gotten even better, landing a record on the Candy Mountain print, helmed by one-time Ostgut Ton favourite Steffi. She actually has a lot of little labels, including various Dollys. Becoming a regular Ellen Allien, that lass is – notch another artist I've overlooked for far too long.
Anyhow, this EP. The kick-off is also the titular cut, and almost immediately you're gonna' get transported back to the '90s with its big, brash broken beats. The echoing piano and sinewy synths don't hurt either, basically mixing and matching a lot of early rave and trance sounds into something of a New Beat soup, but done in an electro way. All with that ultra-beefy modern production, keeping things sounding as current as possible. If you turned down the gains, muffled the sounds, and flattened the dynamics... yeah, I could imagine this appearing on some long-lost Music Man Records B-side. Sounding 'modern-retro' has been one of Blue Hours' appealing traits though – it's why I started scoping them out, after all – so no surprises here.
Xenolith is about as 'pretty' as this EP gets, however, as follow-up Surface Level gets down to some serious electro business. Nothing too fancy with this one, just a steady thudding breakbeat, menacing robot sounds, and ominous backing synths. Blindspot gets a little fancier in its beatcraft, opting for something more skippity and post-dubsteppy. Future-shock electro menace vibes are still in full effect though.
But enough of that, how about some acid breakcore for a finish? Closed Circuit is definitely that, or at least treading as close to the realms of acid breakcore without actually going full tilt. I don't know if the Blue Hour faithful are really down for that. Or maybe they are, the label having multiple examples of the stuff scattered about. Still gotta' get on digging into more releases, I do.
Not too much to dig into with this EP. The particulars are already mostly covered elsewhere on this blog, the names behind this moniker and all that. Well, half of it at least, as Tracing Xircles is a collaboration between Blue Hour head-honcho, erm, Blue Hour. Luke Standing, that is. The other goes by A-JX on Bandcamp, but Lord Discogs lists him as Simon Pilkington (also: AJ-X ...which is it!?). There isn't much else on him within the Discoggian tomes, so can't help you there.
In any event, the two paired up half a decade ago for a debut EP titled Gaia's Requiem. As befitting a record with that sort of name, it's a rather chill affair, but as this was still Blue Hour's early years (the label and the artist!), some exploratory works are allowed. By the time the two reconvened for a second record, Air Lock, they got back to the spacey techno pulse that defined much of Blue Hour's work. And when I finally stumbled upon this label, they had just put out their third EP, this here Xenolith. Not a bad run at all, but it's apparently gotten even better, landing a record on the Candy Mountain print, helmed by one-time Ostgut Ton favourite Steffi. She actually has a lot of little labels, including various Dollys. Becoming a regular Ellen Allien, that lass is – notch another artist I've overlooked for far too long.
Anyhow, this EP. The kick-off is also the titular cut, and almost immediately you're gonna' get transported back to the '90s with its big, brash broken beats. The echoing piano and sinewy synths don't hurt either, basically mixing and matching a lot of early rave and trance sounds into something of a New Beat soup, but done in an electro way. All with that ultra-beefy modern production, keeping things sounding as current as possible. If you turned down the gains, muffled the sounds, and flattened the dynamics... yeah, I could imagine this appearing on some long-lost Music Man Records B-side. Sounding 'modern-retro' has been one of Blue Hours' appealing traits though – it's why I started scoping them out, after all – so no surprises here.
Xenolith is about as 'pretty' as this EP gets, however, as follow-up Surface Level gets down to some serious electro business. Nothing too fancy with this one, just a steady thudding breakbeat, menacing robot sounds, and ominous backing synths. Blindspot gets a little fancier in its beatcraft, opting for something more skippity and post-dubsteppy. Future-shock electro menace vibes are still in full effect though.
But enough of that, how about some acid breakcore for a finish? Closed Circuit is definitely that, or at least treading as close to the realms of acid breakcore without actually going full tilt. I don't know if the Blue Hour faithful are really down for that. Or maybe they are, the label having multiple examples of the stuff scattered about. Still gotta' get on digging into more releases, I do.
Tuesday, July 4, 2023
Night Hex - Viziuni Nocturne
Suntrip Records: 2015
Ended one box-set, time to start another. Okay, this technically isn't one, anymore than going through N:L:E's Bandcamp releases is. When one receives the bulk of a label's CD catalogue in a big ol' box though, it kind of counts. And Suntrip Records, they offered a deal I simply couldn't refuse - nor afford, so it was nice of Ishkur to chip in halfies for the collection. If any future updates to the Music Guide seems weighted way in favour of this label, now you know. Also, Suntrip releases really good goa trance, it does.
Yet in typical EMCritic fashion, I am not kicking off this journey into Suntrip Records with an album that typifies the label's 'neo-goa' sound. I mean, I kinda' already did, with Clementz' Kretsløp a year ago, but that doesn't really count – the notion of deep diving this print was hardly on my mind back then. What I'm getting at, though, is this mini-album from Night Hex is more of a standard prog-psy outing than the retro psy you'd expect out of Suntrip. Or maybe they do more than I could have guessed – it's not like I've listened to everything in their catalogue yet. Gotta' mix things up some, lest you get pigeonholed as a one-trick pony. Right, I'm sure there's some in the psy scene that would love nothing more than having every release on this label be a strict genre exercise, but I prefer things mixing up some, especially now that I've committed to giving coverage to Every. Single. Item.
Geez'it, am I ever rambling now. That usually happens if I don't have much to say about the given item I'm set to review, but maybe that's not the case. Maybe I'm typing this way because I'm writing this while still high on dental sedatives. Is that worthy an excuse here? No?
Look, there really isn't much to say about Night Hex. There's plenty to say about the man behind Night Hex, one Emanuel Carpus, but I don't want to spoil that fun just yet. Besides, I've already covered a couple of his releases, and have plenty more from him down the line, so don't want to get deep into what appears to be a simple one-off alias. Lord Discogs lists no other releases than this one, with but a couple stray compilation tracks rounding out the rest.
Four tracks make up this CD EP, plus a remix. Opener Night Visitors works the stready prog-psy vibe with mysterious sounds floating about with simple hooks at the peaks. Sleep Paralysis ups the tempo a smidge, carried by an almost melancholic melody before letting the twisty psy riffs do their thing. Distorted Visions ups the tempo more, getting into some proper goa trance pacing, with trancey multi-tap hooks and acid along for the ride. Katharsis is the requisite slowbeat psy-chill closer, while the ten-minute plus cut is a chugging prog-psy remix of the E-Mantra track Ninive Under The Stars. And now you know more.
Ended one box-set, time to start another. Okay, this technically isn't one, anymore than going through N:L:E's Bandcamp releases is. When one receives the bulk of a label's CD catalogue in a big ol' box though, it kind of counts. And Suntrip Records, they offered a deal I simply couldn't refuse - nor afford, so it was nice of Ishkur to chip in halfies for the collection. If any future updates to the Music Guide seems weighted way in favour of this label, now you know. Also, Suntrip releases really good goa trance, it does.
Yet in typical EMCritic fashion, I am not kicking off this journey into Suntrip Records with an album that typifies the label's 'neo-goa' sound. I mean, I kinda' already did, with Clementz' Kretsløp a year ago, but that doesn't really count – the notion of deep diving this print was hardly on my mind back then. What I'm getting at, though, is this mini-album from Night Hex is more of a standard prog-psy outing than the retro psy you'd expect out of Suntrip. Or maybe they do more than I could have guessed – it's not like I've listened to everything in their catalogue yet. Gotta' mix things up some, lest you get pigeonholed as a one-trick pony. Right, I'm sure there's some in the psy scene that would love nothing more than having every release on this label be a strict genre exercise, but I prefer things mixing up some, especially now that I've committed to giving coverage to Every. Single. Item.
Geez'it, am I ever rambling now. That usually happens if I don't have much to say about the given item I'm set to review, but maybe that's not the case. Maybe I'm typing this way because I'm writing this while still high on dental sedatives. Is that worthy an excuse here? No?
Look, there really isn't much to say about Night Hex. There's plenty to say about the man behind Night Hex, one Emanuel Carpus, but I don't want to spoil that fun just yet. Besides, I've already covered a couple of his releases, and have plenty more from him down the line, so don't want to get deep into what appears to be a simple one-off alias. Lord Discogs lists no other releases than this one, with but a couple stray compilation tracks rounding out the rest.
Four tracks make up this CD EP, plus a remix. Opener Night Visitors works the stready prog-psy vibe with mysterious sounds floating about with simple hooks at the peaks. Sleep Paralysis ups the tempo a smidge, carried by an almost melancholic melody before letting the twisty psy riffs do their thing. Distorted Visions ups the tempo more, getting into some proper goa trance pacing, with trancey multi-tap hooks and acid along for the ride. Katharsis is the requisite slowbeat psy-chill closer, while the ten-minute plus cut is a chugging prog-psy remix of the E-Mantra track Ninive Under The Stars. And now you know more.
Sunday, June 18, 2023
Yahgan - Ushuaia
Liquid Frog Records: 2021
Can't deny, I initially thought this was a different artist. Like, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Mr. Giacovino to have a few other acts on his self-release net-label, and seeing a couple collaborations between “Yahgan” and “N:L:E” only solidified that assumption. But nay, once I did a tad bit more research on this (re: submitted this release to Discogs), I realized this is just another alias from ol' Juan. Gosh, are all the items there like that? I see a couple more project names (Spiritual Fields, Kiphi), so maybe so. And here I thought I was buying up a label's worth of new producers. Damn, that actually makes the rate of his output even more impressive!
Still, this alias should have been a small clue out of the gate. Yahgan is a reference to the peoples that lived in the southern end of the South American continent since... well, since peoples ever existed there. Archaeology finds have dated artifacts of the Tierra del Fuego region as some ten-thousand years old, so a hefty amount of time existing in such a remote area of the world. The Yahgan weren't completely isolated though, other tribes dwelling about the archipelago. Being essentially huddled into the southern tip, however, led to a language and culture quite unique to anything else in the area. What I find fascinating is how this latitude compares to its northern counterpart, particularly the contrast between the indigenous peoples from my old stomping grounds. In some ways, the Yahgan and Haida are similar (isolated, seafaring archipelago folk), but how those root cultures evolved over the centuries couldn't be further apart. Maybe if Cape Horn had more lodgepole pine trees.
Anyhow, I assume Juan Pablo was inspired by the O.G. Argentinians to start crafting music with remote vibes in mind. Maybe not so dark ambient as Ugasanie goes, but something that captures the spirit of nomadic wanderings among tundra islands. Which kinda' makes naming a major port city Ushuaia a tad funny, seeing as how the Yahgan didn't really have permanent settlements. Still, the name is apt, more or less translating from the native language as “deep bay”. More proudly, and from which Juan gained his inspiration from, Ushuaia lays claim to being the southernmost city on the globe, “end of the world.”. You go, girl!
Like H:U:M's Universal Code, Yahgan's Ushuaia features four tracks, the first three of which build upon each other. Fortunately, there aren't obvious pauses between them, each piece distinctly their own, even if they're re-using similar sound assets. Once again, Part1 is the pure ambient outing, grand synth pads flowing about while a rather crisp, watery sound drips in the background. Part2 adds rhythmic synth harmonies, giving the piece momentum before brighter synths shower down at the peak. Part3 brings some actual downtempo beats to the fray, while the N:L:E Mix beefs the rhythm into dubbier pastures while adding some mildly glitchy sound effects. Ooh, were these in an Oliver Lieb sample pack?
Can't deny, I initially thought this was a different artist. Like, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Mr. Giacovino to have a few other acts on his self-release net-label, and seeing a couple collaborations between “Yahgan” and “N:L:E” only solidified that assumption. But nay, once I did a tad bit more research on this (re: submitted this release to Discogs), I realized this is just another alias from ol' Juan. Gosh, are all the items there like that? I see a couple more project names (Spiritual Fields, Kiphi), so maybe so. And here I thought I was buying up a label's worth of new producers. Damn, that actually makes the rate of his output even more impressive!
Still, this alias should have been a small clue out of the gate. Yahgan is a reference to the peoples that lived in the southern end of the South American continent since... well, since peoples ever existed there. Archaeology finds have dated artifacts of the Tierra del Fuego region as some ten-thousand years old, so a hefty amount of time existing in such a remote area of the world. The Yahgan weren't completely isolated though, other tribes dwelling about the archipelago. Being essentially huddled into the southern tip, however, led to a language and culture quite unique to anything else in the area. What I find fascinating is how this latitude compares to its northern counterpart, particularly the contrast between the indigenous peoples from my old stomping grounds. In some ways, the Yahgan and Haida are similar (isolated, seafaring archipelago folk), but how those root cultures evolved over the centuries couldn't be further apart. Maybe if Cape Horn had more lodgepole pine trees.
Anyhow, I assume Juan Pablo was inspired by the O.G. Argentinians to start crafting music with remote vibes in mind. Maybe not so dark ambient as Ugasanie goes, but something that captures the spirit of nomadic wanderings among tundra islands. Which kinda' makes naming a major port city Ushuaia a tad funny, seeing as how the Yahgan didn't really have permanent settlements. Still, the name is apt, more or less translating from the native language as “deep bay”. More proudly, and from which Juan gained his inspiration from, Ushuaia lays claim to being the southernmost city on the globe, “end of the world.”. You go, girl!
Like H:U:M's Universal Code, Yahgan's Ushuaia features four tracks, the first three of which build upon each other. Fortunately, there aren't obvious pauses between them, each piece distinctly their own, even if they're re-using similar sound assets. Once again, Part1 is the pure ambient outing, grand synth pads flowing about while a rather crisp, watery sound drips in the background. Part2 adds rhythmic synth harmonies, giving the piece momentum before brighter synths shower down at the peak. Part3 brings some actual downtempo beats to the fray, while the N:L:E Mix beefs the rhythm into dubbier pastures while adding some mildly glitchy sound effects. Ooh, were these in an Oliver Lieb sample pack?
Thursday, June 15, 2023
H:U:M - Universal Code
Liquid Frog Records: 2022
The good news is it didn't take me long to talk up a different project from Juan Pablo Giacovino as I sift through his Natural Life Essence catalogue. The bad news is... wait, is there bad news? Like, I wouldn't call having to add this to Lord Discogs' tomes as awful or anything, and given how this item is only a year old (almost to the day!), I'm not surprised it hadn't been yet added. According to the Bandcamp stats, only eighteen other folks have purchased this mini-album in that time, and odds are fairly high that I'm the only one OCD enough to do the entry. Unless one of them also has a blog where they're reviewing Every. Single. Item. within their collection. And if so... hey, send a link over my way, yo'!
Would be nice if Juan added this to the Discoggian database himself, but I'm sure he's a busy man. Honestly, very few artists have the time to worry about what gets added to internet archives, typically relying on dedicated fandoms to do that sort of thing on their behalf. I imagine the Natural Life Essence brand is still a tad too new to have developed such a thing, though with luck, that exposure on Neotantra has given it a deserved boost. Hell, I know of at least one such chap where it worked out.
Anyhow, H:U:M is the alias Mr. Giacovino adopted when he wanted to specifically focus on space themed ambient music away from his Natural Life Essence moniker. Not that he hadn't done so in the past, indeed the three-part Space Caravan series released early on in N:L:E's lifespan. I guess he felt it somewhat limiting to lump all his muses under one banner, so time to spread things out some, for those fans that prefer certain sounds over others.
Universal Code features four tracks, but really it's two: one thirty-minute excursion with different sections flowing into the next, and one twelve-minute coda. Can I just pause this review a moment and mention my one gripe with Bandcamp, how there's always a pause between tracks? It's especially egregious on re-uploads of albums that I know are meant to be seamless, and thank God some include that option with the download. But yeah, having that digital break throws so many a listening experience off. Okay, gripe over.
Universal Code 1° is the standard ambient lead-in, rhythm only hinted at with the gently pulsing synths as spacey pads and dubby effects ease us in. As we *pause* slide into Universal Code 2°, a soft ambient techno beat joins, and some punctual synths build to something of a mini-climax. The track then fades off again, leading us *pause* into Universal Code 3°, something of a reinterpretation of sounds already heard. Meanwhile, Universal Code 4° goes pure space ambience, a few trace melodies from earlier gently bobbing about in the background before coming forth with its own downbeat peak. A pleasant outing, all 'round.
The good news is it didn't take me long to talk up a different project from Juan Pablo Giacovino as I sift through his Natural Life Essence catalogue. The bad news is... wait, is there bad news? Like, I wouldn't call having to add this to Lord Discogs' tomes as awful or anything, and given how this item is only a year old (almost to the day!), I'm not surprised it hadn't been yet added. According to the Bandcamp stats, only eighteen other folks have purchased this mini-album in that time, and odds are fairly high that I'm the only one OCD enough to do the entry. Unless one of them also has a blog where they're reviewing Every. Single. Item. within their collection. And if so... hey, send a link over my way, yo'!
Would be nice if Juan added this to the Discoggian database himself, but I'm sure he's a busy man. Honestly, very few artists have the time to worry about what gets added to internet archives, typically relying on dedicated fandoms to do that sort of thing on their behalf. I imagine the Natural Life Essence brand is still a tad too new to have developed such a thing, though with luck, that exposure on Neotantra has given it a deserved boost. Hell, I know of at least one such chap where it worked out.
Anyhow, H:U:M is the alias Mr. Giacovino adopted when he wanted to specifically focus on space themed ambient music away from his Natural Life Essence moniker. Not that he hadn't done so in the past, indeed the three-part Space Caravan series released early on in N:L:E's lifespan. I guess he felt it somewhat limiting to lump all his muses under one banner, so time to spread things out some, for those fans that prefer certain sounds over others.
Universal Code features four tracks, but really it's two: one thirty-minute excursion with different sections flowing into the next, and one twelve-minute coda. Can I just pause this review a moment and mention my one gripe with Bandcamp, how there's always a pause between tracks? It's especially egregious on re-uploads of albums that I know are meant to be seamless, and thank God some include that option with the download. But yeah, having that digital break throws so many a listening experience off. Okay, gripe over.
Universal Code 1° is the standard ambient lead-in, rhythm only hinted at with the gently pulsing synths as spacey pads and dubby effects ease us in. As we *pause* slide into Universal Code 2°, a soft ambient techno beat joins, and some punctual synths build to something of a mini-climax. The track then fades off again, leading us *pause* into Universal Code 3°, something of a reinterpretation of sounds already heard. Meanwhile, Universal Code 4° goes pure space ambience, a few trace melodies from earlier gently bobbing about in the background before coming forth with its own downbeat peak. A pleasant outing, all 'round.
Saturday, June 10, 2023
N:L:E - Uncharted Lands
Liquid Frog Records: 2022
No sooner do I finish one box-set than I start another. Kinda'. Okay, buying the bulk of Liquid Frog Records' Bandcamp catalogue doesn't technically count as purchasing a box-set. Hell, as this was an entirely digital transaction, I have no actual physical copies of any of these items. How can I call this a box-set if there's no literal box? I know! I'll dump all the files into one large .zip! That's like a digital box. Or maybe settle for a folder titled “Natural Life Essence & Co.”, print off a screen-cap of it, then hang it somewhere near my CD shelves. It'd be just like saying you hung out with celebrities, by surrounding yourself with cardboard cut-outs of them. Or Calvin and Hobbes hanging out on top of a ladder when they're told they can't climb trees.
It feels a tad odd starting a near-complete dive into Juan Giacovino's project in this manner. When confronted with so many sound samples of equal value and quality, however, I had a Hell of a time deciding what select few I wanted to indulge in. So I bought them all. And hey, if I didn't think there was enough diversity among these eighty-something releases to warrant individual review of them, I wouldn't have done the deed. At least, I hope there is... *eyes ten volumes of Caravan Of Healing Sounds with trepidation*
And thusly, by arbitrary alphabetical decree, I'm kicking this off with one of Juan's more recent offerings, Uncharted Lands. With cover art of frozen wastes in greytone, this looks to be another exploration of chilly soundscapes from N:L:E, a frequent theme within his archives. And space music, if I'm honest. And micro-fauna, come to think of it. Not to mention macro-biomes. But arctic regions, that, definitely.
The titular opener greets us with soft, velvety pads, eventually giving way to a groovy little downbeat, and oh my God! How wonderful it is to hear rhythm again after so many hours of ambient music! Erm, anyhow, Uncharted Lands adds in fuzzy, dubby effects and a sliding synth lead, almost growing epic in an unassuming way. The Desolate Land Mix at the other end of this EP stretches things out more by remaining mostly beatless, save ambient techno patter towards the end.
Between those two tracks is a three-part excursion called Expedition Caravan (Juan loves his caravans). Part 1 is the sort of moody, slowbeat dub techno that Ultimae Records has made their domain as of late, though at least not quite so vaporous. Part 2 strips things down more, letting layers of voice pads wash the sparse rhythms like waves against a shore, while Part 3 opts for more focus on groove, melodic harmony staying in the background before finally strutting its stuff down the stretch. At over fourteen minutes though, it does drag a little before getting to the goods.
Still, a solid first second impression into the N:L:E oeuvre. Only a couple dozens more to go.
No sooner do I finish one box-set than I start another. Kinda'. Okay, buying the bulk of Liquid Frog Records' Bandcamp catalogue doesn't technically count as purchasing a box-set. Hell, as this was an entirely digital transaction, I have no actual physical copies of any of these items. How can I call this a box-set if there's no literal box? I know! I'll dump all the files into one large .zip! That's like a digital box. Or maybe settle for a folder titled “Natural Life Essence & Co.”, print off a screen-cap of it, then hang it somewhere near my CD shelves. It'd be just like saying you hung out with celebrities, by surrounding yourself with cardboard cut-outs of them. Or Calvin and Hobbes hanging out on top of a ladder when they're told they can't climb trees.
It feels a tad odd starting a near-complete dive into Juan Giacovino's project in this manner. When confronted with so many sound samples of equal value and quality, however, I had a Hell of a time deciding what select few I wanted to indulge in. So I bought them all. And hey, if I didn't think there was enough diversity among these eighty-something releases to warrant individual review of them, I wouldn't have done the deed. At least, I hope there is... *eyes ten volumes of Caravan Of Healing Sounds with trepidation*
And thusly, by arbitrary alphabetical decree, I'm kicking this off with one of Juan's more recent offerings, Uncharted Lands. With cover art of frozen wastes in greytone, this looks to be another exploration of chilly soundscapes from N:L:E, a frequent theme within his archives. And space music, if I'm honest. And micro-fauna, come to think of it. Not to mention macro-biomes. But arctic regions, that, definitely.
The titular opener greets us with soft, velvety pads, eventually giving way to a groovy little downbeat, and oh my God! How wonderful it is to hear rhythm again after so many hours of ambient music! Erm, anyhow, Uncharted Lands adds in fuzzy, dubby effects and a sliding synth lead, almost growing epic in an unassuming way. The Desolate Land Mix at the other end of this EP stretches things out more by remaining mostly beatless, save ambient techno patter towards the end.
Between those two tracks is a three-part excursion called Expedition Caravan (Juan loves his caravans). Part 1 is the sort of moody, slowbeat dub techno that Ultimae Records has made their domain as of late, though at least not quite so vaporous. Part 2 strips things down more, letting layers of voice pads wash the sparse rhythms like waves against a shore, while Part 3 opts for more focus on groove, melodic harmony staying in the background before finally strutting its stuff down the stretch. At over fourteen minutes though, it does drag a little before getting to the goods.
Still, a solid first second impression into the N:L:E oeuvre. Only a couple dozens more to go.
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Public Energy - Three 'O Three
Probe Records: 1992/2021
Hey now, don't look at me that way. I was one-hundred percent truthful when claiming completion with Speedy J records at this end of my alphabetical queue. I said nothing about any other of his aliases! Haha, gotcha', hook, line, and sinker! Unless you already saw this joke coming, though I'm not sure how. The original title of this EP was after the two tracks on the A-Side, Hemi-Sync, but for some reason, Jochem re-issued it on Bandcamp titled with the lead track on the B-Side, Three 'O Three. Maybe he felt it the superior cut out of all four tracks? Only way to find out is to dive right in, yo'!
As a record being released on the harder offshoot of Plus 8 Records, Hemi-Sync (Part 1) definitely fits the bill. There isn't anything fancy about it, just a steady thump of a kick, some fills that drop into an industrial grinder, little bleepy leads rotating in and out throughout the duration. One of those leads sounds suspiciously like The KLF's What Time Is Love, but it's so brief and muffled, I can't be certain. Wouldn't surprise me though, as I'm sure it was a highly common sample in the year 1991.
Speaking of brief, the track is but a mere four minutes long, which may as well be a progressive house epic compared to the svelte Hemi-Sync (Part 2), clocking in just over three-and-a-half minutes long. Heck, you could be fooled into thinking it's half that length too, as there's a one-second pause right in the middle of the track! Given Part 2 is little more than a drum tool, I'm sure DJs could have a lot of fun with this, but there isn't much else to it. Still, if folks ever complained about Speedy J's turn to the 4am warehouse bosh in the new millennium, here's proof positive he always had an ear for minimal techno functionality.
Anyhow, here's Three 'O Three, the track given the re-issued spotlight. This just might be the third dumbest thing Jochem's ever made. Not Pull Over dumb, thank God, but it's about as blunt an acid techno workout as you could make in the olden days. The beats are nothing more than a hardcore stomp, there's enough hi-hat action keeping things busy, and the TB-303 tweaks in suitable fashion. Again, more of a tool than a track. Mind, it's not like the fourth track on this EP, B.S.G. (Binaural Signal Generator), is any more brilliant in the beat department, but it at least has something of a hook going for it, plus more of a 'song' progression, such as early '90s bangin' techno could have.
Review wrapped, I'd like to take a moment to mention the passing of an old friend, Ritchie Banipal. We weren't especially close, mostly keeping contact through Facebook in recent years, but had many memorable times together during our Canadian hinterland raving days, memories I'll always cherish. I will miss your sharing of “fotos”, Ritchie.
Hey now, don't look at me that way. I was one-hundred percent truthful when claiming completion with Speedy J records at this end of my alphabetical queue. I said nothing about any other of his aliases! Haha, gotcha', hook, line, and sinker! Unless you already saw this joke coming, though I'm not sure how. The original title of this EP was after the two tracks on the A-Side, Hemi-Sync, but for some reason, Jochem re-issued it on Bandcamp titled with the lead track on the B-Side, Three 'O Three. Maybe he felt it the superior cut out of all four tracks? Only way to find out is to dive right in, yo'!
As a record being released on the harder offshoot of Plus 8 Records, Hemi-Sync (Part 1) definitely fits the bill. There isn't anything fancy about it, just a steady thump of a kick, some fills that drop into an industrial grinder, little bleepy leads rotating in and out throughout the duration. One of those leads sounds suspiciously like The KLF's What Time Is Love, but it's so brief and muffled, I can't be certain. Wouldn't surprise me though, as I'm sure it was a highly common sample in the year 1991.
Speaking of brief, the track is but a mere four minutes long, which may as well be a progressive house epic compared to the svelte Hemi-Sync (Part 2), clocking in just over three-and-a-half minutes long. Heck, you could be fooled into thinking it's half that length too, as there's a one-second pause right in the middle of the track! Given Part 2 is little more than a drum tool, I'm sure DJs could have a lot of fun with this, but there isn't much else to it. Still, if folks ever complained about Speedy J's turn to the 4am warehouse bosh in the new millennium, here's proof positive he always had an ear for minimal techno functionality.
Anyhow, here's Three 'O Three, the track given the re-issued spotlight. This just might be the third dumbest thing Jochem's ever made. Not Pull Over dumb, thank God, but it's about as blunt an acid techno workout as you could make in the olden days. The beats are nothing more than a hardcore stomp, there's enough hi-hat action keeping things busy, and the TB-303 tweaks in suitable fashion. Again, more of a tool than a track. Mind, it's not like the fourth track on this EP, B.S.G. (Binaural Signal Generator), is any more brilliant in the beat department, but it at least has something of a hook going for it, plus more of a 'song' progression, such as early '90s bangin' techno could have.
Review wrapped, I'd like to take a moment to mention the passing of an old friend, Ritchie Banipal. We weren't especially close, mostly keeping contact through Facebook in recent years, but had many memorable times together during our Canadian hinterland raving days, memories I'll always cherish. I will miss your sharing of “fotos”, Ritchie.
Sunday, April 9, 2023
Spicelab - Spice Is A Fulltime Occupation
Harthouse/Solieb Digital: 1994/2014
The writing was on the wall. Hard acid techno that marked much of Oliver Lieb's early Spicelab work was quickly coming off dated, new sounds and genre cross-pollination emerging within the halls of Harthouse. You could either start dabbling in the more experimental side of techno, or hop on the trance bandwagon gaining momentum about Frankfurt. Well, Lieb already had established an alias for that, called L.S.G., so the experimental side it would be. Like, he'd been pushing that as Spicelab already, at least as far as you could while blistering out the 303 action at 160bpm. Some tracks though, like Quicksand, showed he could do more with the project than sci-fi pulp bosh. Eh, that's just not what the label wants from him? Okay, fine, let's take Spicelab into proper trance territory too.
Thus we have Spice Is A Fulltime Occupation, the in-between EP released during this transition. You can definitely hear stray elements of older Spicelab still lurking, but it's clear ol' Oliver was evolving his sound into the progressive house DJ friendly material as heard in his L.S.G. material (to say nothing about singles from A Day On Our Planet). Changing tides and all that.
Retaining the pulp vibe is opener Pigs In Spice, a nod to the Muppet skit, no doubt. Eh, you say it's actually Pyrospice that's the opener? That can't be right, this Bandcamp remaster I got clearly shows Pigs In Spice as track one, Pyrospice the third. Ah, the original vinyl had them switched around, that's it. Well, I'm gonna' go with how they're sequenced for the re-issue – I assume it's the order Mr. Lieb prefers it.
And right Pigs In Spice should the be opener, Lieb stretching his experimental side much in the same manner as the Quicksand EP. While not so chill as that track went, this one isn't in much hurry to lay the beats out either, letting Oliver's usual array of sci-fi synths, space opera choirs, and bleepy electronics play out. Brisk hi-hats and cymbal crashes seems to impart a sense of urgency in the track, but the soft pitter-patter of the beat never lets Pigs In Spice ratchet up into higher gear. Besides, that's for the titular centre-piece.
Yeah, if you thought Amorph was dope but just a little too boshy for a trance cut, Spice Is A Fulltime Occupation refines everything into peak classic trance perfection. The beats are fast, but not stupidly so. The acid is subtle, serving as the rhythmic propellant the little TB-303 machine always intended it to be. And the synths. My God, the synths! Epic and grand in all the best ways sci-fi pulp ever envisioned.
Pyrospice can only be something of a comedown following that. Well, in vibes, if not in tempo, getting right back to the hyper-fast techno of older Spicelab. Yeah, it's basically more of the hard acid bosh, though a bit more intuitive compared to some of Lieb's other hard acid bosh. It got a synth breakdown, yo'!
The writing was on the wall. Hard acid techno that marked much of Oliver Lieb's early Spicelab work was quickly coming off dated, new sounds and genre cross-pollination emerging within the halls of Harthouse. You could either start dabbling in the more experimental side of techno, or hop on the trance bandwagon gaining momentum about Frankfurt. Well, Lieb already had established an alias for that, called L.S.G., so the experimental side it would be. Like, he'd been pushing that as Spicelab already, at least as far as you could while blistering out the 303 action at 160bpm. Some tracks though, like Quicksand, showed he could do more with the project than sci-fi pulp bosh. Eh, that's just not what the label wants from him? Okay, fine, let's take Spicelab into proper trance territory too.
Thus we have Spice Is A Fulltime Occupation, the in-between EP released during this transition. You can definitely hear stray elements of older Spicelab still lurking, but it's clear ol' Oliver was evolving his sound into the progressive house DJ friendly material as heard in his L.S.G. material (to say nothing about singles from A Day On Our Planet). Changing tides and all that.
Retaining the pulp vibe is opener Pigs In Spice, a nod to the Muppet skit, no doubt. Eh, you say it's actually Pyrospice that's the opener? That can't be right, this Bandcamp remaster I got clearly shows Pigs In Spice as track one, Pyrospice the third. Ah, the original vinyl had them switched around, that's it. Well, I'm gonna' go with how they're sequenced for the re-issue – I assume it's the order Mr. Lieb prefers it.
And right Pigs In Spice should the be opener, Lieb stretching his experimental side much in the same manner as the Quicksand EP. While not so chill as that track went, this one isn't in much hurry to lay the beats out either, letting Oliver's usual array of sci-fi synths, space opera choirs, and bleepy electronics play out. Brisk hi-hats and cymbal crashes seems to impart a sense of urgency in the track, but the soft pitter-patter of the beat never lets Pigs In Spice ratchet up into higher gear. Besides, that's for the titular centre-piece.
Yeah, if you thought Amorph was dope but just a little too boshy for a trance cut, Spice Is A Fulltime Occupation refines everything into peak classic trance perfection. The beats are fast, but not stupidly so. The acid is subtle, serving as the rhythmic propellant the little TB-303 machine always intended it to be. And the synths. My God, the synths! Epic and grand in all the best ways sci-fi pulp ever envisioned.
Pyrospice can only be something of a comedown following that. Well, in vibes, if not in tempo, getting right back to the hyper-fast techno of older Spicelab. Yeah, it's basically more of the hard acid bosh, though a bit more intuitive compared to some of Lieb's other hard acid bosh. It got a synth breakdown, yo'!
Labels:
1994,
acid,
EP,
hard trance,
Solieb Digital,
trance
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Daniel Pemberton - Silent Sky
fsoldigital.com: 2013
I had this EP ever since grabbing Space Dive and didn't realize it. I mean, I'm fairly certain I saw it included in the download bundle, but for whatever reason, I never noticed it in my media catalogue. Actually, check that: I did see it, but it was mislabelled, Silent Sky being credited to... Y'know, I forget what the name was. Daniel 'something', but definitely not Pemberton.
Also not doing this EP any favours is just how darn short it is, four tracks in total, none breaking the three minute mark. Heck, it doesn't even make the ten minute mark, it's total running time a svelt nine fifty-two. When tagged along with an unrecognizable Daniel 'whoever', you'll forgive me for thinking Silent Sky just some random bit of sample music Windows sneaked into my media player when I wasn't looking. These computer corporations have been known to do that.
But while we're here, why don't we check in on what ol' Pemby's been up to since I last talked him up. Let's see, that was in 2019, so head over to Discogs and... Oh. Oh wow! He scored that Dark Crystal show? That's dope! I mean, I haven't watched it, because it's on one of those too-many streaming services I haven't a care to subscribe to (D+? Netflix? Peacock? Whatever poor Warner's now called?). Maybe I'll get around to it someday via 'other means', but still, cool project for Daniel to have worked on.
Anything else? Ooh, he scored another superhero movie, that Harley Quinn one, Birds Of Prey. Eh, maybe not as big a get as Into The Spider-Verse, but then, almost nothing else would be (No Way Home? Endgame?). Again, haven't seen it, but then I've got a solid streak of seeing not a single DCEU film since The Dark Knight. Hold strong, Sykonee.
What else...? Hm, some Netflix thing called Enola Holmes, plus Enola Holmes 2. The Trial Of The Chicago 7, also a Netflix joint. Knights And Bikes... The Bad Guys... I might have seen a trailer for that one. Okay, so maybe not huge movies or shows, but just because I've remained somewhat media illiterate regarding that scene doesn't mean Daniel hasn't remained successful. It's clear he's found a footing in his field, and all the more power to him in landing those gigs.
Eh? You say I'm running close to my self-imposed word count limit, and I still haven't talked about this EP? Oh, don't worry, this won't take long. As said, it's four short tracks, each a different part of Silent Sky. I has a high-pitched string to go with its tranquil setting, II follows through with gentle ebbs and flows of pads, III features a more prominent bit of harmonic melody in its use of strings and pads, and IV offers twinkly synths. Ah, night has settled in. What's remarkable is how briskly it all passes by. Yeah, ten minutes ain't much, but I've heard prog tracks of similar length that feel longer.
I had this EP ever since grabbing Space Dive and didn't realize it. I mean, I'm fairly certain I saw it included in the download bundle, but for whatever reason, I never noticed it in my media catalogue. Actually, check that: I did see it, but it was mislabelled, Silent Sky being credited to... Y'know, I forget what the name was. Daniel 'something', but definitely not Pemberton.
Also not doing this EP any favours is just how darn short it is, four tracks in total, none breaking the three minute mark. Heck, it doesn't even make the ten minute mark, it's total running time a svelt nine fifty-two. When tagged along with an unrecognizable Daniel 'whoever', you'll forgive me for thinking Silent Sky just some random bit of sample music Windows sneaked into my media player when I wasn't looking. These computer corporations have been known to do that.
But while we're here, why don't we check in on what ol' Pemby's been up to since I last talked him up. Let's see, that was in 2019, so head over to Discogs and... Oh. Oh wow! He scored that Dark Crystal show? That's dope! I mean, I haven't watched it, because it's on one of those too-many streaming services I haven't a care to subscribe to (D+? Netflix? Peacock? Whatever poor Warner's now called?). Maybe I'll get around to it someday via 'other means', but still, cool project for Daniel to have worked on.
Anything else? Ooh, he scored another superhero movie, that Harley Quinn one, Birds Of Prey. Eh, maybe not as big a get as Into The Spider-Verse, but then, almost nothing else would be (No Way Home? Endgame?). Again, haven't seen it, but then I've got a solid streak of seeing not a single DCEU film since The Dark Knight. Hold strong, Sykonee.
What else...? Hm, some Netflix thing called Enola Holmes, plus Enola Holmes 2. The Trial Of The Chicago 7, also a Netflix joint. Knights And Bikes... The Bad Guys... I might have seen a trailer for that one. Okay, so maybe not huge movies or shows, but just because I've remained somewhat media illiterate regarding that scene doesn't mean Daniel hasn't remained successful. It's clear he's found a footing in his field, and all the more power to him in landing those gigs.
Eh? You say I'm running close to my self-imposed word count limit, and I still haven't talked about this EP? Oh, don't worry, this won't take long. As said, it's four short tracks, each a different part of Silent Sky. I has a high-pitched string to go with its tranquil setting, II follows through with gentle ebbs and flows of pads, III features a more prominent bit of harmonic melody in its use of strings and pads, and IV offers twinkly synths. Ah, night has settled in. What's remarkable is how briskly it all passes by. Yeah, ten minutes ain't much, but I've heard prog tracks of similar length that feel longer.
Saturday, January 28, 2023
Dance With The Dead - Send The Signal
self-release: 2014
Spare some time for an anecdote?
The setting, a little post-clubbing afterparty, which is always nice being at when you're not quite ready for a night to be over. I didn't know these folks in the slightest, but sometimes the conversations you're having are just too good to let die. Still, it became clear to me that our musical tastes weren't so compatible. Lots of Drake, Bieber and the like being played, plus they could tell I was one of those guys, who knew too damn much about music (guilty as charged). But that's fine, I was having a fun enough time chit-chatting about other things (and watching the World Cup Final), so whatever music was playing wasn't a concern for me. Until it was.
At some point, I suggested music a bit more 'peppy', to which I was put on the spot to recommend something. Friends, that has to be the worst thing for me to be asked! Of all the music I know of, I now have to pare it down to just a singular song that my new one-night clubbing pals might enjoy. For some reason, my mind went to Dance With The Dead. It went over like an iridium weight in the atmosphere of Saturn.
I bring this up because, for a time after, I had a crisis of faith, a flailing sense of doubt over my own taste in music. Yeah, I know not everyone will dig what I dig, just as I won't dig what everyone else will dig, but surely Dance With The Dead was bullet-proof? How can some folks not get hype to those pounding darksynth rhythms, the soaring John Carpenter synth leads, and Tony Kim's righteous shredding?
I realize I may have over-committed to this band in buying their entire catalogue off Bandcamp, but man, perhaps I was wrong about enjoying the duo all along. Might they have always been cheesy, corny, and just not cool? Am I so out of touch? I mean, sure, I was one of the 'geezers' when I went to go see them in concert last year, throwing up devil's horns among a crowd of millennials, but might synthwave already be past its prime, with me clinging to a nostalgia of... *checks calendar* a decade old?
Then I listen to Poison off this Send The Signal mini-album, and all is right in the world again. Oh, Dance With The Dead, I can never stay doubtful of you.
Anyhow, Send The Signal is another of the band's earlier EPs, released after the Near Dark album. As such, we're in their era where the synth leads and rhythms dominate over a given track, Tony's guitar action still mostly relegated to a bit of soloing at a track's peak, if featured much at all. Of the six songs (plus an intro), they touch on all the synthwave bases, so a nice little appetizer of the Dance With The Dead stylee. Just, y'know, don't play it for J Cole fans.
Spare some time for an anecdote?
The setting, a little post-clubbing afterparty, which is always nice being at when you're not quite ready for a night to be over. I didn't know these folks in the slightest, but sometimes the conversations you're having are just too good to let die. Still, it became clear to me that our musical tastes weren't so compatible. Lots of Drake, Bieber and the like being played, plus they could tell I was one of those guys, who knew too damn much about music (guilty as charged). But that's fine, I was having a fun enough time chit-chatting about other things (and watching the World Cup Final), so whatever music was playing wasn't a concern for me. Until it was.
At some point, I suggested music a bit more 'peppy', to which I was put on the spot to recommend something. Friends, that has to be the worst thing for me to be asked! Of all the music I know of, I now have to pare it down to just a singular song that my new one-night clubbing pals might enjoy. For some reason, my mind went to Dance With The Dead. It went over like an iridium weight in the atmosphere of Saturn.
I bring this up because, for a time after, I had a crisis of faith, a flailing sense of doubt over my own taste in music. Yeah, I know not everyone will dig what I dig, just as I won't dig what everyone else will dig, but surely Dance With The Dead was bullet-proof? How can some folks not get hype to those pounding darksynth rhythms, the soaring John Carpenter synth leads, and Tony Kim's righteous shredding?
I realize I may have over-committed to this band in buying their entire catalogue off Bandcamp, but man, perhaps I was wrong about enjoying the duo all along. Might they have always been cheesy, corny, and just not cool? Am I so out of touch? I mean, sure, I was one of the 'geezers' when I went to go see them in concert last year, throwing up devil's horns among a crowd of millennials, but might synthwave already be past its prime, with me clinging to a nostalgia of... *checks calendar* a decade old?
Then I listen to Poison off this Send The Signal mini-album, and all is right in the world again. Oh, Dance With The Dead, I can never stay doubtful of you.
Anyhow, Send The Signal is another of the band's earlier EPs, released after the Near Dark album. As such, we're in their era where the synth leads and rhythms dominate over a given track, Tony's guitar action still mostly relegated to a bit of soloing at a track's peak, if featured much at all. Of the six songs (plus an intro), they touch on all the synthwave bases, so a nice little appetizer of the Dance With The Dead stylee. Just, y'know, don't play it for J Cole fans.
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