EDM Weekly World New, October 2014

Enough of supernatural coverage. We spent a whole summer digging for the juicy gossip and slanderous dirty you all crave in your click bait!




Question: if Lebron's DJ skills include the violin, would his cooking skills include grape stomping?

TUU - One Thousand Years (Original TC Review)

SDV Tonträger/Waveform Records: 1993/2001

(2014 Update:
Talk about redundant opening paragraphs. Yeah, it was important establishing what sort of borders we'd set for ourselves at TranceCritic, but as is abundantly clear at this blog, I care not a lick about staying within the lines. I suppose it makes calling this place 'Electronic Music Critic' disingenuous on my part, but it was the title I picked long ago, a logical evolution from the old website. Besides, despite my occasional dalliances into rock or other, I've kept things mostly on an electronic tip (yes, I'm including hip-hop in that now too).

Some additional information here that I neglected before. One Thousand Years was in fact TUU's first album, self-released on their own label before joining up with Beyond/Waveform. I always thought this came out shortly after All Our Ancestors. Lord Discogs led me astray! It makes sense though, the music here more minimalistic compared to their other material. Still really neat stuff though, if you're into atmospheric ambient as conceived by cultures from the before times, the long, long ago.)


IN BRIEF: The Ancients beckon.

For an electronic music review website, we here at TranceCritic sure tend to overreach the boundaries you’d expect of the genre. Not so much the producers who’ll take traditional instruments and fuse them with techno beats - that’s common. And not even old rock songs given the ol’ dance make-over. No, I’m talking about acts that are known for other music but may dabble in synths on a whim.

While it’s fine and dandy that we don’t restrict ourselves to a narrow field of music, it does cause a slight problem: how far can we push it before what we’re reviewing no longer fits typical electronic productions? If an experimental new wave album from Neil Young is allowed, then should all new wave and synthpop acts be given the same attention? And what about hip-hop? The Godfather has been invited, so shouldn’t the rest of that branch be allowed, especially since that music is technically more electronic than Primal Scream’s?

This is a big can of worms we flirt with on occasion but always within reason. We don’t just cover electronic music, but also the culture that comes with the package. The clubs, the outdoor parties, the chill rooms, the gear heads, the trainspotters, the DJs, the warehouses, and even the stadiums. As splintered as many EDM scenes became over the years, they still all more or less encompass the same ideals, which distinguishes it from other music scenes. Some intermixing does occur but this is primarily the reason genres are often separated the way they are in music stores.

This reads like a big disclaimer, doesn’t it. That’s because this album you’ve clicked to read a review on fits into the ‘not-quite-pure-electronic-music’ category. Might as well explain myself for once again straying from the beaten path, eh?

So, who exactly is TUU? This is a group comprised of Martin Franklin, Richard Clare and Mykl O’Dempsey, with other assorted guest contributors. During the ‘90s they made a few ambient albums together before disbanding to pursue other interests. Their sound was rather unique when compared to typical ambient offerings of the era, in that it often conjured up images of ancient exotic tribal clans gathered in a meditative circle, which probably wasn’t too far off in the audience they’d play for. The reason for their effectiveness lies in the instruments they use. Martin played the percussion, usually gentle beats on clay pots, small gongs, and other simple forms. Meanwhile, Richard’s use of soft woodwinds gave their songs warm melodies. And providing the atmosphere would be Mykl, using an assortment of synths.

As you can see, two-thirds of TUU doesn’t rely on anything electronic to produce their music, and Mykl’s use of synths are dressing for the tracks. In some instances, his contribution does lead, but Richard and Martin are usually the main focus. It begs the question then just how much of an electronic album One Thousand Years is, and if it should even be covered. Oh, foolish you be should you think such things. Yes, TUU do sound more organic than electronic, but this is still ambient music in the truest sense. Although easily playable in any environment, and even somewhat co-opted by New Age folks, ambient has largely remained within the domain of the electronic faithful.

I suppose you are wondering if I’ll ever get around to the particulars of One Thousand Years. That, I’m afraid, is tricky. This is ambient, after all, and detailing tracks is rather futile in that the music doesn’t follow any conventional form. TUU enjoy feeling their way through their songs, often times dwelling on the long vibration of a gong beat or a drawn out flute note while an eerie or calming synth smoothly slides in the background. Generally, a song’s elements will come into focus early on, with the trio improvising with each other for the course; a tribal rhythm or chant may crop up to add a little variety but not often.

As for their tone, TUU tend to remain melancholy, even at times mournful. I mentioned earlier at how their music can make one think of ancient tribes, but the trio also displays a touch of lament over our loss of the simple innocence that came with those cultures. A few tracks contain some cheerier moments - the spritely flutes in Pan America or the glowing synths in High Places, for instance - but the general feel is sorrowful and reflective. Like most ambient, the music on One Thousand Years works perfectly fine playing in the background. But should you sit down, ignore all that is around you, and just listen to what’s coming from your speakers, TUU’s work takes on a meditative quality where you’ll find yourself becoming lost within your own thoughts.

Although One Thousand Years is technically over a decade old (Waveform re-issued the album for American distribution - apparently the original European version is quite rare at this point) it hardly shows its age. Of course, this is partly for the fact TUU’s sound already has an ancient feel to it, but the production quality is top-notch as well, with each member’s contribution sounding clear and concise with plenty of room to breathe. While I wouldn’t consider this an essential purchase for fans of this sort of music, if you like your ambient quiet, contemplative, and tribal, then One Thousand Years is worth your attention.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved

The Prodigy - One Love

XL Recordings: 1993

Wow, October's turning into “Transitional Album/EP” month, isn't it. Aphex Twin's On marked a transition in his sound, Neil Young's On The Beach found him transitioning into the thematic ditch, One + One saw Zabiela and Fanciulli attempt a transition into a superstar DJ duo, and One A.D. was the start of my transition into underground electronic chill-out. Yeah, I'm stretching, but here we are with The Prodigy's One Love, their first single following the post-Experience afterglow/backlash, and a sign of things to come for Howlett's group of rave hoodlums.

Ol' Liam knew he had to change things up, was practically forced into it if he wanted any credibility retained. Jettisoning all the goofy chipmunk vocals and novelty children samples was a good start, but could he do more in getting that critical respect back? Well, there was that whole “ethnic sampling” thing going on in trendy genres like progressive house and downtempo dub music. Surely it'd be simple enough to dump one overtop another thumping rave anthem, and watch the plaudits come barrelling in. Oh, and make sure to use some cutting edge 3D computer animation for the video, since everyone's praising The Future Sound Of London for doing the same. Instant success, amirite?

Well, maybe not, folks and Mixmag pundits eternally bitter over Charly. Just to test the waters, Howlett released One Love as a white label and under the pseudonym Earthbound. It proved to be a success, the single quickly becoming a favourite with underground rave DJs. Imagine their surprise when it was revealed the same guy they’d slated was responsible for their new anthem. Damn, that’d be like Skrillex releasing jungle without anyone realizing.

As for One Love, it’s got peppy organ stabs, didgeridoos, and a chant borrowed from Magi & Emanation’s Everybody Say Love (whom Howlett remixed). It’s also ridiculously dated sounding, especially compared to the music that would end up on Music For The Jilted Generation. Really, the history behind its release is far more interesting than the end result, especially compared to the other tracks on the single. Full Throttle’s fierce attack, which also ended up on the album in a slightly edited form (where’s Luke Skywalker, mang?), was more indicative of where The Prodigy were headed while retaining the tribal rhythms Howlett seemed set on utilizing.

All well and good, but let’s face it: the better ‘transition’ track found on this single is Rhythm Of Life. It’s got a pile of old school tropes, including the overused Native yelps that were oh-so tired by 1993. This is one nasty piece of rave business though, Howlett giving us a taste of the techno thrash that’d he’d make his distinctive sound. By comparison, the trancey-techno Johnny L Remix of One Love comes off unremarkable and bland. Why you no jungle the track up, Johnny?

Whatever. Get this single for Rhythm Of Life, and nothing else. One Love was a worthy step for Howlett, but a dead-end style of music where The Prodigy’s legacy’s concerned.

Various - One. A.D. (Volume One Ambient Dub)

Waveform Records: 1994

One A.D. took what I knew about downtempo music (one year knowledge!) and utterly shattered it. On the musical front, Enigma and Deep Forest suddenly sounded corny and commercial. As starting points for further ambient exploration, The Orb and Brian Eno came off obvious and safe. I mean, who were all these guys on this compilation? The Higher Intelligence Agency? Banco de Gaia? Sandoz? I'd never seen those names on “Must Have Ambient” lists, giving One A.D. a mysterious allure most other chill-out collections of the time couldn't compete with. The giants of the genre could wait - I wanted to hear what the less-heralded offered in this exciting new realm of underground ambient house and techno.

I’ve gone on and on and on about Waveform Records’ beginnings, but in case you’re new to this blog (hi, enjoy your stay!), here’s the quick lowdown. Birmingham label Beyond Records kicked off a nifty new sound called ambient dub, and ran a critically hailed compilation series promoting the stuff. Waveform Records opened up shop in America and served as their outlet for a short while. As Beyond had already released three Ambient Dub collections by that point, Waveform had some choice material to recycle for their launch. What they did instead was more interesting.

For sure there were familiar names between both labels: HIA, Banco, A Positive Life, Original Rockers (Rockers Hi-Fi). Somehow though, Waveform convinced these acts to provide fresh material for One A.D., a sweet deal if you already had the Beyond discs. Thus Toby Marks made new mixes of Desert Wind and Shanti (the latter being a far superior version compared to its original incarnation), A.P.L. sends The Calling into a lengthy, floaty Ambient Mix, Original Rockers lend a production hand to kindred dub spirits Templeroy on Dubometer, and HIA made an exclusive track for Waveform in Harmony Angel.

Along with a couple repeats (Original Rockers’ Mecca Of Space, G.O.L.’s Soma Holiday, the original version of The Calling ...yeah, track appears twice on One A.D., but as the original’s quite bangin’ for a supposed ‘chill’ tune, the contrast is welcome), Waveform got in a couple names Beyond never did: Sandoz and Pentatonik. Considering the scarcity of Sandoz’ debut, its remarkable Waveform secured a license for Beam. Even rarer is Pentatonik’s Devotion, first appearing buried as the CD-only last track of his debut Autonomous EP. As a bit of dubby ambient techno though, it’s a good fit.

For some reason, One A.D. was ‘reformulated’ at the turn of the century, jettisoning Shanti and HIA’s Spectral in favour of tunes from Ras Command and Urchin. Both were new artists to Waveform, so I’m assuming it was done as promotion - can’t let Bird and Marks hog the six year old track list. While it nerfs the ‘vintage early ‘90s sound’ of the CD a little, One A.D. remains a great collection of ambient dub of that era. Its well-worth your coinage if you’ve even the smallest hankering for the stuff.

James Zabiela & Nic Fanciulli - One + One (Original TC Review)

Ministry Of Sound: 2007

(2014 Update:
AH HAHAHAHAHAAH!! HAHAAHAAH!! Man, all the music journalists that bought into the PR hype that James Zabiela and Nic Fanciulli were going to be the next Sasha & Digweed deserves a punch in the dick. AH HAHAHAH! *punches 2007 Sykonee in the dick* Ouch! Yeah, I kinda did too, but only as a review angle, I swear! Wait, why am I feeling that punch seven years later? Damn temporal paradoxes.

What I remember most about this DJ mix was how much it annoyed me. True, my initial thoughts were formed during a frustrated wander through a Surrey suburb (was kinda lost), but the various glitch-minimal wankey bits soured my impressions forever after. I hadn't listened to this since I reviewed it, and was struck dumb by not only hearing Rockers Hi-Fi's Push Push here (by way of a M.A.N.D.Y. remix) but also deadmau5's Faxing Berlin - I totally don't remember hearing that track in this mix! Not that I would have immediately recognized it back then anyway, since One + One came out a few months before ol' Joel blew up big on Beatport. Guess I gotta give Zabs and Nic some credit in picking future 'classics' like that one, even if their team-up's barely remembered as a footnote in their respective careers now.)


IN BRIEF: The potential of youth.

Masters At Work; Grooverider and Fabio; Hawtin and Väth; Sasha & Digweed: DJing duos that made massive impacts on their scenes, raising standards to new highs with their unprecedented symmetry. Unfortunately, it’s been a while since we’ve seen a breakout duo of similar ilk, but if the hype centered around this release is to be believed, we just may have it. And the names that will take DJing to a whole new level? James Zabiela and Nic Fanciulli. For those still in the dark about these two, here’s a quick dosier.

More or less discovered by the now defunct Muzik Magazine, Zabiela built a larger DJing career from his Bedroom Bedlam momentum. On top of that, just as the era of digital DJing emerged, Zabs was among the first to not only support the technology, but show-off just how creative one could get with CDJs and Ableton Live. He was the new kid on the block teaching all the old timers how to use these new-fangled gizmos, impressing even the ‘Son Of God’ enough to tour with him. As for Nic... Well, he appears to be part of Renaissance’s ‘The Next Generation’, or something to that effect. He’s gotten plenty of praise from the progressive elite, but unless you follow that scene religiously his name may have passed you by. Until now, of course.

Bottom line is these two are members of the new breed of young DJs looking to shake things up in the realms of clubland. And although they both have differing approaches to the trade, Zabs & Nic discovered a strong synergy between them, making use of each other’s strengths while keeping their weaknesses in check. So of course, in an industry desperate for The Next Big Thing, it’s no wonder some music rags are jumping on their official pairing as something new, exciting, bold, visionary, and other typical journalistic hyperbole.

I suppose you’re wondering whether all this early hype is warranted. Well, no. It almost never is, to be honest, but even then this pairing has come very early in Zabs’ and Nic’s career (by comparison, Sasha & Diggers had been at the game for quite a long while before they ever hooked up). There are sections of this mix where the over-exuberance of snickering youth does get the better of them, and despite Nic’s steadying presence, Zabiela still has a tendency to get too indulgent with playing with his laptop, if you catch my euphemism. Mind, this doesn’t mean One + One isn’t without merit; just don’t go into it thinking this is Northern Exposure for the modern clubber.

Still, the first disc follows in much of the same vein as that seminal series. As the chiller of the two CDs, it is quite laid back in delivery, mostly content to cruise along at a casual pace. Interestingly, rather than the more traditional ‘slow breaks to house grooves’ sets of this nature build to, Zabs and Nic go in reverse. Deep house vibes open the show, soon sliding into dubby tunes, synthy atmospherics, and even electro breaks. Of course, with IDM production so very hip now, we get a slight detour of mild offerings around the middle of this set. As far as experimenting soundscapes go, these tunes are intriguing enough but it is nice to return to the more melodic nature of chill sets in due time. Be warned though: the glitchy clicky nature of digital DJing rears its head quite a bit in the final stretch (especially in Zab’s own offering of Human, unsurprisingly), so it does make for a rather... unique listen compared to more typical sets. It’s also amusing hearing a knowing wink from him in the form of Furry Phreaks’ Soothe; James is apparently quite aware of the comparisons he and Nic have been getting lately.

And so, we come to disc number two, which usually means the party is ready to get under way with some bumpin’ rhythms and energetic hooks. Er... that’s not quite what happens here. If the ‘Ableton House’ bits of the first CD didn’t do much for you, you’ll probably want to sit out the first half of the second one. Certainly, there are some nifty tracks used here, but this set has a hell of a time getting anywhere; there are just too many “check out THIS trick!” moments to build any decent momentum. And whether it’s Zabs and Nic doing it or the original tracks are produced this way, you end up feeling like you’re stuck in Laptop Land. It also doesn’t help that this section isn’t terribly energetic in the rhythm department and something resembling a good tune remains sparse, but I suppose that makes it easier to tinker with. Yeah, I’m sure there are legions of Ableton acolytes out there who’ll eat this up, but unless you know the tracks and hardware intimately, it’ll probably just come across as either fluff or aggravating noise. Over-indulgent IDM lives on in house music, it would seem.

Things get better when DJ Dan makes an appearance by way of his Electroliners collaboration with Jim Hopkins, bringing us into some good ol’ breaks action - finally it begins to sound like this set is going somewhere. Its short lived though, as the final stretch brings us into simple techno territory ...of the unfortunate meandering kind. There are brief moments where things perk up – the always classic Wiggin’ by Derrick May’s Mayday alias the obvious example - but a lot of it relies on basic loops and soft beats. Hardly exciting stuff - perhaps Zabs and Nic didn’t want their single No Pressure to be overshadowed? As for No Pressure, it’s a nice closer that fits with the second disc’s simpler nature, summing up some of the themes touched upon. Personally, I found the pleasant opener Rover on disc one the better cut but your mileage may vary depending on what you get out of these sets.

To be honest, this isn’t the easiest DJ mix to get into. Your expectations will be challenged because this duo isn’t afraid to tinker with convention. All fine and good: it’s interesting to hear new ideas when they are executed well (and they mostly are). But at the same time, there isn’t as much tinkering as you’d expect. They have some tracks they want to play, they have some effects they want to play with, they mixed them altogether, and we have One + One as a result. The trouble is there aren’t that many standout tracks beyond the timeworn classics we hear, and the sets play in musical chunks rather than a flow. As such, if you still haven’t bought into the fizzle hiss-hiss crrzzkkzz hiss pop nature of these kinds of sets, this won’t do much to change your mind without the Big Moments that have made some of the sets of those other famous duos so legendary.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved

Solieb - On The Button / We Are Moving

Maschine: 2007

Geez, another Solieb single? How many of these did I get? How many were even released? (ten) I was curious to hear a few of these minimal techno Lieb musics, sure, but not all of them. It's minimal, for God's sake – how interesting could all of it be? Have a cursory glance, then back to forlorn hopes for another L.S.G. album. I've no idea what else to say about the Solieb project that wasn't already covered with Integrale and Impersonator. Heck, I've even already done the fictitious backstory angle! I've nothing left.

Let’s get this review over with, then. On The Button was released towards the latter end of the Solieb run, and I have to wonder if Mr. Lieb was running out of ideas where he could take minimal techno. Despite a start that hints at a sludgy bit of rhythmic monotony, the track gets rather busy with its various sounds: some machinery grinding, dub techno effects, and even proper melody at points that’s mildly catchy. That’s not supposed to happen in serious minimal music. The track doesn’t go anywhere much, and spends far too much time on the DJ-friendly bookends, but the middle sections were interesting for short time they were allowed. We Are Moving on the flip isn’t even minimal, despite the requisite over-dubbed percussion and plonky parts. There’s a funky groove, smart acid blips, and an ominous, dominant synth drone that sounds like it belongs in Spicelab down moments rather than supposed minimal techno. Since We Are Moving is the least minimal track I’ve heard from Lieb’s minimal moniker, it just might be one of the best Solieb tracks around.

Lieb would release one more single as Solieb, Halo / The Drums, coming out in spring of 2007. Just before minimal became insufferably commercial and tiresome in clubs everywhere, come to think of it. Hm, ol' Oliver rode that minimal wave for just the right amount of time, getting on when it started its intriguing buzz (2005), and bailing before every two-bit producer jumped on the bandwagon. Or maybe it's just a coincidence he put Solieb to pasture before the scene stupidity started settling in. I prefer believing the former, because I’m a hopeless fanboy that way.

That’s all I got. For the love of Lord Discogs, I hope there aren’t any more Solieb singles lurking in my music collection. There’s a couple more individual tracks floating about, but surely not full two-track EPs. I mean, look at this, I’m rambling to make self-imposed word-count quota. It’s not that the Solieb stuff was boring or whatever, it’s just there’s little more to discuss regarding the project. Dear me, I hope Lieb doesn’t release a CD collection of the stuff now, because I know I’ll end up buying it, then I’ll have to review it, and I’ve exhausted almost every talking point by now. Maybe not actual detailing of individual tracks, but geez, you know how painful it is reviewing minimal? Not fun, not fun at all.

Neil Young - On The Beach

Reprise Records: 1974/2003

So, how's your day going? Good, you say? That's cool, peachy. I'm doing pretty good myself. Enjoying my new Sennheiser Momentum headphones very much, thank you. What's that, you found $20 on the ground? Wow, that's some swell luck. You know, I think everything's looking bright for us. I almost feel guilty feeling good about things and stuff right now. Hey, I know what will bring me right the fuck down, Neil Young's On The Beach. Few things depress you quicker than that ode to post-hippie '70s existential crisis of being!

Not that you could blame the poor guy. Sure, he was a commercial success and all that, but at what cost had that fame come? If his musician friends weren't dying from drug overdoses, they were getting lost up their needles and noses with the stuff. He could sell out concerts, but considering how often he felt compelled to flee his fanatical fans, what comfort was there in that? And everything else in Americana seemed to be going tits up, the prosperity of the '50s and counter-culture idealism of the '60s getting hit with hard, bitter, cold reality of events out of their control. Where else could Neil Young go but straight for the ditch, burning his bridge to fame (but not his fortune!) as he tried making sense of it all.

Thus, you get a track like Vampire Blues, condemning the Western world’s growing dependence on fossil fuels. There’s Revolution Blues, painting redneck culture as ever the jaded reactionary types as we’ve stereotyped them into today. For The Turnstiles paints a dour picture of other charming Americana like county fairs and baseball games. See The Sky About To Rain is more poetic, coming off like After The Goldrush material (I think it was written around that time anyway). Motion Pictures laments his fame, and Ambulance Blues flat out criticizes all that hippie optimism that accomplished squat in the ‘70s. “Pissing in the wind” indeed.

As those song titles suggest, there’s quite a bit of blues music here, though only the titular cut’s out-and-out blue-blues as you imagine. Revolution Blues is a basic southern rock out (that bass!), and Vampire Blues is the chipper version of blues rock, what with a cool shuffle percussion, a bit of organ action, and one of Shakey’s weirdest solos ever (is he trying to sound like bubbling crude?). For The Turnstiles, meanwhile, goes for a banjo duo, and Ambulance Blues sounds like a whiskey-soaked country jam, including a ...bass fiddle? Whatever it is, it sure sounds sad. I think Toby Marks used something similar on Big Men Cry.

Okay, this is a depressing album, but the music is quite creative and beautiful in its misery. It also helps that Young’s perspective on things got better a few years after, so a happy(ish) wrap to this story. On The Beach is best treated as a time-capsule, a period in Young’s life where he captured a despondent spirit of a generation.

Electronic Music Critic ACE TRACKS, Now As Spotify Playlists!

[2024 UPDATE!]
So looks like many of these playlists have gone the way of 404 oblivion. Can't say I'm surprised Spotify would delete them if I'm no longer subscribed, but man, what a bitch to have to go through every ACE TRACKS UPDATE post and replace those dead embeds with Deezer ones. At least all those Playlists transfered over there, and hey, even included a bunch of missing tracks! Keeping this post up as is for archival purposes. Yeah, those Amazon clips were the bunk, never playing much of anything and always the least interesting parts of the songs. Nay, ya'll want to hear these tunes in their full, glorious versions, and now that Spotify's finally gotten inside my Canadian borders, it's time to treat the ACE TRACKS Playlist properly. Thus, I'm putting together monthly playlists featuring every song, tune, or track within that period to earn ACE TRACK honors (provided it's on Spotify), and make it available here to enjoy. Sweetening the deal, I'll also arrange the tunes in a mixtapey sort of way, so it's not just chunks of single artists you're listening to. I mean, if you wanted to do that, you could listen to the albums in full, right?

The Playlist at the sidebar will be refreshed at the start of every month, and yes, I'm also making Month Playlists for every prior one too. Since that's two years worth though, I'm only making them when I have time, and will only post an update at this blog at the end of the month.

Since not everyone out there has a Spotify account, the reviews themselves will continue having Amazon clips and links for purchases, which I still encourage. Spotify's a cool service and all, but nothin' impresses the ladies like all d'em hard copies. (artists get better money out of it too...)

Aphex Twin - On

Warp Records/Sire: 1993/1994

Did you know there’s a new Aphex Twin album? Of course you do, because no one will shut up about the new Aphex Twin album. It’s such a novelty, a new Aphex Twin album being available, one that a new generation of electronic music lovers finally understanding the thrill of. Okay, new Aphex Twin albums weren’t as big a deal back in the day, because they weren’t so infrequent, you see. Anyhow, let’s forget about Syro for now, because I won’t get to talk about it until, oh, spring (I’ve a lot of albums with ‘S’ in the title). Let’s instead jump into Aphex Twin’s debut on Warp Records, the single On.

Truthfully, this wasn’t Richard D. James’ first appearance on the seminal label, having put out an album with them as Polygon Window the year before. The Aphex Twin moniker had bigger clout though, and I’m sure Warp believed they’d scored a winner in signing Mr. D. James to a long-term multi-album deal (that he’s still yet to complete, apparently). Maybe as a means of distancing the Aphex sound from its Apollo origins, On features quite a radical change of sound compared to prior works, many pointing to this EP as where ‘drill-n-bass’ got its beginnings.

Fun fact: On was one of the first Aphex Twin songs I ever heard. The other was Donkey Rhubarb, both appearing on ‘ambient’ compilations. I couldn’t understand why. Sure, Aphex Twin was some ambient-God at the time, his name always coming up in mid-‘90s Best Of lists, but if these tunes were indicative of Aphex ambient, then I clearly had a totally off idea of what ambient was. Right, On starts with a charming bell melody, soon joined by the crackling of thunder and rainfall. It’s brisk, but still in line with ambient’s calming tend- oh my God, what’s with that …kick? Bass? What even is that sound? And why are the hi-hats so sharp and piercing? This song makes no sense being on a CD titled Ambient Auras, no sense at all.

Of course, senselessness is part of Aphex Twin’s charm, and despite the bizarre rhythm, On remains a lovely little tune in his discography. In stark contrast, the drilling acid beats of 73-yips is great for pissing your neighbors off (and inspired a zillion copycat wonks in the process). Meanwhile, Xepha hints at the creepy-weird discordant-dream ambience that would encompass Selected Ambient Works 2, except with drill-kicks bouncing about like rubber demonites - it makes sense when you hear it, trust me. The American copy of On jettisoned D-scape in favor of the Reload Mix, a chipper ambient techno rub by the Global Communication chaps that ends the EP on a light note, but isn’t as interesting as Aphex’s material.

It’s academic whether you should get on, erm, On, if you haven’t already. Since it’s a career-transitional EP, it’s one of Aphex Twin’s more unique items. That’s saying something, considering the various musically obtuse paths he’s taken over the years.

AstroPilot - Here And Now

Altar Records: 2010

Dmitriy Redko was a busy body in 2010 – or rather, his new home on Altar Records was busy for him, releasing a whopping four LPs under the AstroPilot banner. Man, label head DJ Zen must have thoroughly enjoyed Fruits Of The Imagination to go all-in on whatever else the Siberian psy guy had stored up. Since this has a latter catalogue number following Solar Walk, Shamanium, and Mitra, I’ll assume Here And Now was the current stuff Redko was working on; the title’s a pretty safe hint too.

AstroPilot’s work ethic has earned him a solid reputation within the psy scene, capably flitting various sub-genres like few others. His tracks have found homes on ambient compilations, psy dub collections, progressive trance mixes, and even tech-plonk house showcases. Okay, not that last one, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Redko’s got some stored away, gathering digital dust on a harddrive untl he decides to go house (they all go house, eventually). While I wouldn’t put him quite on par with some of Ultimae’s Solar stars, he’s definitely up in their leagues, and might even have released LPs there if he hadn’t joined Altar. Well, that whole ‘not exclusively a chill-out producer’ part probably didn’t help either. That’s why you make multiple aliases, mang!

Anyhow, let’s focus on the here and now with Here And Now. Mr. Redko’s mostly taking on prog psy’s domain with this album, though he doesn’t limit himself there either, throwing in breaks and even ...glitch-step breakcore? Wha...? Oh, it’s a collaboration with another Russian psy guy named Pharmacore. Whichever style you call it, at least you can play it at both 88 and 176 bpm!

That’s just an outlier though, a bit of experimentation tacked on to album’s end. Like I said, prog psy’s the name of AstroPilot’s game on Here And Now, and he serves up a bevy of choice cuts for the synapses. I mean, geez, Karma Cleaner! What a lush sounding track this is! Solid pumping groove, glowing goa trance licks, evocative ethnic singing coming in from astral planes, and widescreen production that’s utterly bonkers in how expansive it makes this track sound. Prog psy’s not supposed to sound this big. Other tracks likeHiding Wings and Time Tides are equal to Karma Cleaner’s bar, though a bit more straight-forward where this style’s concerned.

Other tunes mix the formula further, with Memories Maze throwing in breaks at the start before unleashing some propulsive psy action; meanwhile Indigo goes for the full-on breakbeat action. And speaking of full-on, there’s bloody ‘buttrock’ guitar thrash in Variants, and when did this album suddenly get all fierce and nasty on us? The ramp in energy was so gradual, I hardly noticed it.

I knew AstroPilot was a good producer, but that was based off his Solar Walk material. I had no idea he could offer just as awesome yang to those albums’ yins. Get on Here And Now if you’ve even the slightest interest in psy music. Trust.