Showing posts with label Photek. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photek. Show all posts

Sunday, September 20, 2015

Photek - Solaris

Virgin: 2000

Photek’s Solaris is almost legendary in how it divided a jungle nation. It didn’t have to be so. Drum ‘n’ bass was in fine shape at the turn of the millennium, though could have used more of Mr. Parkes’ refined approach to the craft of intelligent tech-step drum programming. Despite a few doing their own spin on the Photek stylee, (word to the Source Direct crew, yo'), other producers weren’t replicating it en masse. Still, for as generally healthy the d'n'b scene was, it had lost much of the commercial and critical clout it once earned in the '90s, Mr. Parkes' absence perhaps partly responsible for those dwindling times. That junglists were expecting- nay, counting upon another Modus Operani to remind the general club 'n' rave populace of their chosen sound's supreme standing is understandable. No less so, then, the betrayal many felt when Photek said nuts to all that, going his own way down paths no true junglists ever dared ventured.

An ocean and sky blue cover notwithstanding, fans had to suspect something was up when lead single Terminus dropped. Also the opener on Solaris, it’s a seriously funky outing with banging and clanking drum work, sounding more like some of Orbital’s output than much of Photek’s prior work (seriously though, that bass drop in the middle!). Infinity was more in line with the sort of tech-step d’n’b heads enjoyed from Mr. Parkes though, so perhaps the full album would offer up more like it. Oh, such innocent thoughts those were.

Second track Junk carries on with the Terminus style, though creeping much closer to techno’s realm than Photek had wandered before. Then Glamourama hits and, oh my God, it’s a house beat! How dare he! How dare he! How dare he? Wait, why is my head bobbin’? Ergh, argh, must. Resist. Deep. Groove.

Haha, foolish junglist, Photek has you in his house clutches now, and to keep you there, here’s Mine To Give, as vintage a Chicago throwback as you could get in the year 2000, including a guest vocal from Robert Owens, a singer featured on many classic Trax Records tracks. As if throwing a bone to the ‘deebee’ faithful, Can’t Come Down gets back to the d’n’b side of things, though on a much chiller scale than anything heard in the Photek discography before. Was he daring LTJ Bukem to play one of his records? The second half of Solaris isn’t nearly as dynamic as the first, if anything flickering down with more claustrophobic house (Solaris) and trip-hop (Halogen, Lost Blue Heaven), but hoo, what an impression side one imparted.

Of course, given this would be the last Photek album for over a decade, the vitriol leveled on Solaris faded, folks wondering if he’d ever drop another LP again. Mr. Parkes would occasionally return to jungle in that time, and his genre explorations garnered him more respect abroad for taking such a chance with his music, succeeding even in the face of predictable backlash.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Photek - Modus Operandi

Virgin Music Canada: 1997

Along with Goldie's Timeless and Roni Size/Reprazent's New Forms, Rupert Parkes' debut Photek LP Modus Operandi established itself among the first drum 'n bass albums you were supposed to have, even if you weren't a d'n'b fan. That was back in the mid-'90s though, when journalist interest in the scene was high, and LP options were low, Modus Operandi one of the few finding any sort of cross-over attention. It didn't hurt Photek's prospects that he signed to Virgin, at the height of 'electronica's promotion abroad. You couldn't miss this album on shelves because the mega-label paid good money for that space.

In hindsight, it's astounding someone saw mainstream marketability in Photek. His style, one of precision tech-step drum programming, spacious sound design, and bleak industrial imagery was so unique for the jungle scene, no one's come near replicating it – those drumfunk guys are heavily inspired by it though. There were far easier sub-sets of '90s d'n'b a casual listener could get into – jump-up, atmospheric, even ragga – so all the more amazing tunes like Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu and The Third Sequence got airtime on Amp or R U Receiving, much less Virgin’s blessing.

Also understandable, then, is why so many folks remain forlorn that Parkes hasn't seen much need to return to this style of music. I’m not sure there was anywhere left to go, though; even with an unparalleled sound, Modus Operandi soon runs thin on ideas. Opener The Hidden Camera gets things off on a chill, mysterious note, then we’re off to the sparse tech-step business for a long run of tracks, some of which are almost carbon copies of each other. Seriously, the difference between Smoke Rings and Trans 7 is marginal at best, but since they’re separated by half an album, you barely notice it on a play-through. Between the two tracks, there’s a lot of piercing synths, lean melodies, and cool drum work. Though not a slog, Minotaur, Aleph 1, groovier 124, and minimalist ‘sci-fi-step’ Axiom feels like you’re trapped in a dry, computer wasteland, a single glass of water always just on the horizon of sight. You keep pushing forward, the surrounding scenery at least fascinating as you traverse this desert of tech-step paranoia.

The titular cut offers a smooth slice of acid jazz, and KJZ shows Parkes getting his ambient-techno/braindance/IDM wonk on. The latter’s apparently a tribute to Kirk Degiorgio, an individual I haven’t the slightest clue about, though anyone who uses Beetlejuice as an alias is ace in my books. Then Modus Operandi ends on a limp note with The Fifth Column, the B-side to Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu, and nowhere near as interesting as that cut.

Which sums up this album, sadly. Most of Photek’s seminal work is left off here, and despite sounding unlike anything else, Parkes goes through the motions of this style just a bit too often throughout. If anything, it’s typical of most drum ‘n bass LPs of the time, only with a fuck-ton more promotion than his brethren ever received.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Photek Productions - Form & Function Vol. 2 (Original TC Review)

Sanctuary Records: 2007

(2013 Update:
It'd be
another half-decade before Rupert Parkes finally released another proper Photek album, KU:PALM, which received... mixed reactions. Guess time will only tell whether folks warm up to it like they did with Solaris or not. As for this collection of odds'n'sods, I can't believe I neglected to mention the Pendulum influences on several of these tracks ...or maybe not. I was kind of in denial about the whole 'rock-and-bass' movement, firmly planting my flag with the liquid funk sound for much of that year.

Oh, and celebrations, as this is the last of my old TranceCritic reviews I'll be uploading for a while. Cripes but are there ever a lot of 'em in the 'F's.)



IN BRIEF: Back in business.

So Rupert Parkes is back with another Photek album, eh? And apparently he’s producing drum’n’bass again too. Hhmph. Does he really think the jungle scene will so willingly take him back after he tried to sell out with house music? Like all is forgiven? Hell, he’s even enlisted the aid of Robert Owens here, always a sure sign of trying to appeal to the liquid funk crowd. You’d think Parkes had discovered the guy or something. Why, he even... he even...ah, heh.... *snicker*...

Okay, I can’t write that with a straight face any longer. It’s just silly to think the jungle scene would have grown that jaded over the years, although there may be a few out there. For the most part though, the return of Photek has been welcomed by the dee’bee faithful. They’ve sat patiently as Parkes dabbled in house beats, Nine Inch Nails remixes and soundtrack work, hoping he would one day return to the dark, techy drumfunk of yore. And now, after a few years of side-projects spurring interest again, the man from Ipswich has finally delivered a full-length release some seven years after the last.

Only this isn’t quite a pure Photek album. Much like the previous Form & Function, FFII is rather a collection of past and present tunes, including remixes done by other producers; rare white vinyl releases like One Nation sit alongside current singles like Love & War, while the likes of TeeBee and Tech Itch lend their hand to proceedings as well. Such a release might have some thinking ‘stopgap’, but Parkes has definitely been a busy boy recently, and his offerings on here are anything but rushed fillers.

In fact, you’d almost think this was a proper album from the opening three tracks, although slightly more in a commercial vein. Industry Of Noise finds those rock collaborations still on Parkes’ mind, while Love & War is as smooth a slice of sultry d’n’b as anything from the genre’s 90s heyday. And yes, Robert Owens does make his obligatory cameo here on Things, but considering Photek pretty much did introduce the house legend to junglists everywhere, another collaboration is only right. Besides, the tune’s mint!

From here, FFII lays out banging track after banging track, and not once falters (well, one stumble, but I’ll get to that in a bit). Parkes unearths long-lost gems like One Nation and Saturated Hip Hop, but new offerings such as Deadly Technology and The Beginning easily hold their own too; drum patterns are gripping, with basslines rumbling with just as much authority as ever. And if you were ever a fan of the more paranoid aspects of Photek productions, Full Spectrum Dominance’s talk of cyber espionage will certainly grab your attention, should the intense beats in this track not pummel you into submission beforehand.

For the most part, the remixers hold their own too, with only DJ Die and Clipse being the weak link here by turning in a rather cornball liquid funk outing on Thunder. Everyone else is in top form though; heck, TeeBee’s go on the rare-ish Ni Ten Ishi Ryu is just as good as anything Parkes did when the track was first released a decade ago.

There is a quibble to be had with FFII though, but it has to do more with Parkes as a producer than the actual music on hand. For as solid of a collection of jungle as this is, one can’t help but feel that Photek isn’t quite as far in the lead of the pack as he once was. Whether doing his own thing in the mid-90s or branching out into other genres at the turn of the century, you always had the sense that Parkes was operating on a totally different level than your standard d’n’b maestro. Here, it sounds more like he’s following the trends rather than spearheading them.

Still, even if he is more of a follower than a leader now, his wily veteran sense of the scene will undoubtedly keep him in the minds of junglists should he be here to stay this time. And even if the next proper Photek album finds Parkes trying his hand at, say, psychedelic minimal electro-prog, I’m sure fans will be far more willing to forgive him for it this time should he continue to produce d’n’b as solid as this on the side.

Things I've Talked About

...txt 10 Records 16 Bit Lolita's 1963 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2 Play Records 2 Unlimited 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 20xx Update 2562 3 Loop Music 302 Acid 36 3FORCE 3six Recordings 4AD 6 x 6 Records 75 Ark 7L & Esoteric 808 State A Perfect Circle A Positive Life A-Wave a.r.t.less A&M Records A&R Records Abandoned Communities Abasi Above and Beyond abstract AC/DC Ace Trace Ace Tracks Playlists Ace Ventura acid acid house acid jazz acid techno acoustic Acroplane Recordings Adam Beyer Adam Ellis Adam Freeland Adham Shaikh ADNY Adrian Younge adult contemporary Advanced UFO Phantom Aegri Somnia AEI Music Aes Dana Afgin Afrika Bambaataa Afro-house Afterhours Agoria Aidan Casserly Aira Mitsuki Airwaves Ajana Records Ajna AK1200 Akshan album Aldrin Alex Smoke Alex Theory Alice In Chains Alien Community Alien Project Alio Die All Saints Alpha Wave Movement Alphabet Zoo Alphaxone Altar Records Alter Ego alternative rock Alucidnation Ambelion Ambidextrous ambient ambient dub ambient techno Ambient World Ambientium Ametsub Amon Amarth Amon Tobin Amplexus Anabolic Frolic Anatolya Andrea Parker Andrew Heath Androcell Anduin Andy C anecdotes Aniplex Anjunabeats Annibale Records Anodize Another Fine Day Antendex anthem house Anthony Paul Kerby Anthony Rother Anti-Social Network Anzio Green Aoide Aphasia Records Aphex Twin Apócrýphos Apollo Apollo 440 Apple Records April Records Aqua Aquarellist Aquascape Aquasky Aquila Arcade Architects Of Existence Archives Arcturus arena rock Arista Armada Armin van Buuren Arpatle Artifact303 Arts & Crafts ASC Ashtech Asia Asian Dub Foundation Astral Engineering Astral Projection Astral Waves Astralwerks AstroPilot AstroPilot Music Asura Asylum Records ATB ATCO Records Atlantic Atlantis atmospheric jungle Atom Heart Atomic Hooligan Atomine Elektrine Atrium Carceri Attic Attoya Audiobulb Records Audion AuroraX Autechre Autistici Autumn Of Communion Auxilary Auxiliary Avantgarde Avatar Records Aveparthe Avicii Axiom Axs Axtone Records Aythar B.G. 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