Wednesday, November 12, 2014

ACE TRACKS: April 2014

I had a good writing groove going for myself recently. Then a brutal weekend of work on a six-day stretch ruined that – now my brain feels like it’s taken an arrow in the ear. Oh well, at least I can still make Spotify Deezer playlists. Here’s April 2014’s big ol’ bundle.



Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Various - Musik Non Stop
Prince - Musicology
Nobuo Uematsu - Music From FFV And FFVI Video Games
Various - Moving Shadow 99.1 & 99.2
Various - Motion: A Six Degrees Dance Collection
Various - Mortal Kombat: Annihilation
Various - Mortal Kombat
Banco de Gaia - Maya (20th Anniversary Edition)

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 7%
Percentage of Neil Young: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: unknown - Izlel je Delyo hajdutin (sooo ethnic)

Though the actual releases are not on Spotify Deezer, this playlist has an abundance of tracks from The Music Of ‘Cosmos' and Muzik Classics: Techno. This makes for a weird combination of incredible diversity with batches of similarity – this, in a collection of tunes that’s already freewheeling through more styles of music than you can imagine. It’s remarkable that, despite having classic albums from The Prodigy, Photek, Boards Of Canada, and Solar Fields, their music gets a little lost amongst the symphonic compositions, dub techno, and harder rock.

This is also the longest playlist I’ve put together, clocking well over the eleven hour mark. Obviously that’s the full tracklist, but even without the missing tracks, it’s a lengthy listening experience. I honestly haven’t even given this one a full play-through as of this posting, sequencing tracks based on quick clips and gut intuition. If I’ve stumbled upon some amazing run of unexpected groupings, I assure you it’s almost accidental, perhaps sublimely or hilariously so. Reason enough to fire this playlist up, to sate your own curiosity of the result, I wager!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Carl Craig - Landcruising

Blanco Y Negro: 1995

Here's something that will boggle your mind. For all his musical innovations, creative drive and honoured status within the world of techno, Carl Craig's album output is seldom name-dropped when talk of essential electronic musics goes down. Not that he helps matters by shying away from the LP format, having released fewer than you could count on your hand – it's apparently all about the singles with Mr. Craig. Still, should you find yourself bluffing your way around the 313 Posse and in need of a C-C album to talk up, you can't go wrong with Landcruising. It may get overlooked on lists of Definitive Techno Releases, but at least it's from the mid-'90s, when everything was awesome sauce and radical radish-relish. Of course that's a real thing – a decade that gave us Pepsi Clear and hypercolor shirts would definitely have radical radish-relish. Sorry. Dignity, that’s what Detroit techno demands, and by Belleview I’ll give it for Landcruising.

Craig had spent more than enough time honing his craft with singles, remixes, and aliases. The fans demanded an album, and though ‘proper’-techno albums were still something of a rarity, he capably handled himself in the format. He even bookends the experience with the sounds of getting into and exiting a car, because obviously you would if you’re making a Detroit techno album about cruising over landforms.

What seems to go forgotten about Landcruising is just how sci-fi and - dare I say - geeky the music is. Despite its steady techno pulse, opener Mind Of A Machine isn’t all that dissimilar to space synth of the ‘80s, especially when a guitar solo makes its mark in the final stretch – I can feel the mullet growing on the back of my neck as it jams away. Follow-up track Science Fiction has a guitar solo too, though the percolating funky rhythms in this future-leaning track at least adds some class to the prog rock wailing.

Like Model 500’s Deep Space of the same year, these are rather musically optimist portrayals of future-music, an outlook for techno that sometimes goes neglected given the general urban decay Detroit suffers from is typically the influence most producers from the region draw inspiration from. There always was a sense of escapism in Detroit techno, but the landmark albums almost unanimously glorify the griminess of illegal warehouse events and future-shock existence, feeding into a self-perpetuating 313 mythology. It’s why Landcruising, despite having lovely music like the ambient A Wonderful Life, epic Technology, sexy smoothness of Einbahn, and neo-classiness of One Day Soon, gets overlooked compared to its contemporaries – it defies the established Detroit techno narrative, and didn’t have many successors when folks figured the genre could only go one way (to Berlin, apparently).

Still, you can’t go wrong with having this in your library. Landcruising may not be a definitive collection of techno, but there’s very little else out there like it. I mean, who’d be so bold as to usurp the mighty Craig legacy?

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Boards Of Canada - Geogaddi

Warp Records: 2002

Geogaddi came out about the time the Cult Of BoC was at its insufferable worst, ridiculous amounts of love and praise gushing in on any and all music scene message forums you’d happen to frequent. It wasn’t just the ravers slobbering over the Scottish duo either, but the indie kids who never gave ‘techno’ much pause were citing Music Has The Right To Children as the best electronic album ever. Okay, enjoy your stay here; there’s more than enough Boards to go around. For the love of God though, please cease the idolization and trumped-up mythology surrounding these guys - they just make charming music for the after-hours.

Whatever you thought about their PR and fanbase, you couldn’t fault the music, much of which remained quite exceptional for its time. Unfortunately, with all the garrulous hype surrounding them, some backlash against the Boards was inevitable. To take the mighty Boards Of Canada down a peg though, you’d need an album that proved these nostalgic-glazed chill-out Emperors were lacking in bell-bottomed accoutrements. Geogaddi was that album.

Already tasked with the impossibility of following upon Music Has The Right To Children, Sandison and Eoin tried going deeply conceptual with Geogaddi, offering tons of sonic Easter Eggs and numerological nonsense for the true believers to dig and discover with repeated play-throughs. For the rest of us, it’s just a rather dull record. For one thing, despite a track list detailing twenty-three cuts, less than half of those are fully-formed pieces of music, some of which are ridiculously tedious experimental loops. Gyroscope in particular is hopelessly annoying and inane with clunky percussion and muffled child dialog that probably has some cool secret that you’d only understand if you were a real fan of the Boards. Or how about the effects wankery of The Devil Is In The Details, barely a piece of music save the gentle echoing synth pulse underneath garble noises like an evil being of demonic origin contrasted with wisps of ethereal pads and, of course, children laughing. No, wait, how about Magic Window, literally one-minute forty-five seconds of silence, just to reach an album runtime of sixty-six minutes and six seconds (though my player reads 66:04, hah!). Gads, see how pretentious this comes off?

Boards Of Canada’s strength is their seemingly effortless approach to song craft – no matter the depth in execution, the final result is simple and class. Geogaddi, on the other hand, sounds like the Scottish duo pushed and strained themselves in creating cleverness for its own sake, forgetting to write decent music in the process. There’s a flat, sterility to so much of Geogaddi, it’s small wonder it remains their most divisive LP.

That said, it’s the Boards we’re dealing with, and a few mint numbers do find their way in. I don’t doubt some fans will snicker at my inability to decipher all the codes hidden within Geogaddi, but I listen to Boards Of Canada for fuzzy, dayglow chill times, not to solve puzzled bollocks.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Speedy J - G Spot (& !ive)

Virgin Music Canada: 1995

The only Speedy J album you’re supposed to have, even if you’re not a Speedy J fan. I mean, who can argue with G Spot? It’s got future-cast techno, lovely ambient, big beaty electro, and even (whisper it) classic trance. Throw in the !ive CD that was released the same year as a double-disc package, and you’ve got yourself a definitive collection of mid-‘90s electronic music that many point to as essential Jochem Paap listening. Ginger? Definitely strong, but a bit stuck in early ‘90s mode and still playing by Detroit’s iron-clad rules. Public Energy No. 1 or A Shocking Hobby? He pushed himself for creative challenges, which is good, but in the process pushed away a number of fans he earned with his early work, which is bad. Loudboxer? Yeah... no – it’s a fun album for what it is, but far too musically singular for any but the most die-hard of techno heads. Many key tracks off G Spot and !ive have appeared on compilations and DJ mixes (erm, and music guides), especially the prog jocks who wanted a little techno roughness to go with their melodic grooves and constructs.

So G Spot it is then. Is that hesitation I sense though? Need a little convincing, do you? Since its kinda’ what I’m supposed to do with this blog, I shall tickle your most potent of music pleasure centers with what you’ll find on here …uh, in word form. In a totally non-threatening, respectful manner, if you want to that is. I suck at game.

Anyhow, this album features ten tracks, some long, some not. Mr. Paap opens with typical branches of techno that was making the rounds of the mid-‘90s: something a little jazzy with The FUN Equations, Ping Pong feeling the sci-fi electro, and Fill 25 has spaced-out acid groove. These all owe more than a debt to Detroit’s lineage, and though these are fine tunes, they aren’t that far of a stretch from what the various giants of that scene were up to. What’s G Spot’s big deal, eh?

Then Lanzarote and Extruma make themselves felt, ambient at its most lush – just eleven solid minutes of bliss. The only way to follow upon such a sequence is by hitting the listener with fat funky acid breaks as conceived by space station robots, but workers out at The Oil Zone will work too. Treatments comes off rather inconsequential after that, but it leads wonderfully into another great ambient interlude with Fill 17, which serves as a perfect respite before going back into the space acid techno-trance in the titular cut. Cap off with a final bit of cinematic ambient music in Grogno, and you’ve yourself an instant classic of the ‘90s. And then you can enjoy it some more on !ive, plus a couple older cuts (Symmetry, Pepper)and exclusives like Fusion, Scare Tactics. Yes, it’s the same Fusion that appeared on Northern Exposure 2, and the whole CD’s got music in that vein. No more excuses, mang.

Friday, November 7, 2014

The Future Sound Of London - Environment Five

fsoldigital.com: 2014

Considering the seemingly endless volumes of From The Archives and, to a lesser extent, Environments, The Future Sound Of London must have had shed-fulls of unused material stored. At least with Environments, they gradually sprinkled in some new stuff too, helping create distinctive album narratives between each edition. And now finally - finally - Dougans and Cobain either found enough inspiration to craft an entirely new album of fresh music under the FSOL banner, or they've used up their entire backlog.

I’ll get the bad news regarding that out of the way: as we’re dealing entirely with post-millennial FSOL here, you bet your bottom dollar Environment Five goes deep into the psychedelic bubble, an attribute that has made their Amorphous Androgynous material a bit of a chore for all but the most dedicated listeners. No, wait a second, that’s not bad news in the slightest! Why shoulda musically dynamic duo remain stuck making tunes they hashed out two decades hence? They can’t very well go around claiming themselves the Future Sound Of London if they don’t keep pushing themselves in finding what future sounds they can craft (for London). Going avant-garde psychedelic-classicalism is good news!

The better-good news is, as Environment Five is all new material, it means Dougans and Cobain had a specific theme in mind while composing this album. Not that the previous Environments lacked themes, but those felt cobbled together - tracks served in creating general moods or milieus, but having little to do with each other. Five, on the other hand, flows like an album proper, with lengthy set pieces, short quiet interludes, and musical ideas and leitmotifs sprinkled throughout. Seriously, they sure love using that... saxophone? I think it’s a saxophone, but knowing these guys, it could be a Tibetan reed-woodwind that only sounds like a saxophone, or even an overlay of the two.

Anyhow, the PR blurbs described Environment Five as an exploration of death. No, not in a morbid, goth manner – there’s more sense of spiritual awakening and contemplation with the music here, as though death is a release from our limited, mortal shells, with realms both grand and humbling awaiting us to explore. Definitely an ambitious venture, and the music does offer tantalizing glimpses. There’s sombre pianos (Source Of Uncertainty, Viewed From Below The Surface), minimalist electro-dub (Machines Of The Subconscious), ethno-fusion baroque (Dying While Being Held), creepy cinematic ambient (Beings Of Light, The Dust Settles), future-shock freak-outs (Somatosensory), and jubilant psychedelic world-beat (In Solitude We Are Least Alone).

Honestly though, this concept of ‘death experiences’ isn’t iron-clad, at least compared to some of FSOL’s earlier concept albums (Lifeforms, Dead Cities). It’s nice they gave us something to latch onto if we’re so inclined, but as a collection of new The Future Sound Of London musics, it’s an enjoyable play-through regardless. Well, so long as you’re not still clinging to Papua New Guinea retreads. Let some of those prog rocks jams worm their way into your eternal being, guy.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Biosphere - Dropsonde

Touch: 2005/2006

Pretty much the Godfather of Scandinavian chill-out, this Geir Jenssen fellow is. I’m sure there were others who were making European Northland ambient before him, but Biosphere endeared himself to a young rave scene, finding a comfortable niche within the realms of early ambient techno and dub. As the years wore on, he kept his sounds unique and fresh with each album while maintaining a distinct icy-ambient style entirely his own. His first few albums are often hailed as stone-cold classics for discerning chill-heads, many modern ambient producers in Norway, Sweden, and Finland citing Mr. Jenssen as a significant influence (I’m looking at you, Ultimae All-Stars!). And while his current output doesn’t garner nearly the same amount of notice as his ‘90s heyday (influence breeds multiple new options), that doesn’t mean Biosphere’s gone quietly into the night as a new generation takes over. Well, okay, maybe a little quietly. This is ambient we’re dealing with, after all.

I suppose with Wolfgang Voigt’s Kompakt print getting all the critical love in the mid-‘00s, ol’ Geir thought it was about time for a stab at Voigt’s ambient-drone work as Gas. Autour De La Lune was a start, and Dropsonde continued this minimalistic exploration, tracks often looping into sedative works of drone, even with occasional rhythms. Essentially three types of compositions are on this album: music guided along gentle key tones that are reminiscent of Steven Halpern’s seminal (if a tad sappy) Spectrum Suite work; future jazz stylee that wouldn’t sound out of place on an obscure Shadow Records release; and straight-forward loop-drone that rides along synth pads and dub effects. As per the Universal Law Of Good Album Flow, these various tracks are nicely paced between each other, letting the listener immerse themselves in one style before taking in another. For instance, opener Dissolving Clouds is a key tone one, followed by Birds Fly By Flapping Their Wings’ going all groovy while riding looping hi-hats, then Warmed By The Drift comes through with, um, warm pads by a crackling fire in a snow-covered forest setting (probably). I shouldn’t have to tell you what fourth track In Triple Time features.

There honestly isn’t much more to say about Dropsonde. It’s a perfectly fine album of tastefully explored abstract ambient, but not a huge standout for that scene at large. While a few sounds and chord changes remind me of Jennsenn’s other works, it’s not as instantly identifiable as albums like Microgravity or Substrata. Thus Dropsonde gets a bit lost in the overall Biosphere discography, though the lovely cover art does help it stand out more than its surrounding abstract neighbors. For all the new musical roads Jennsenn explored during the ‘00s, they were still well traversed by others. Most of the sexy talking points regarding Biosphere comes from the ‘90s, which I’ll get to eventually – I don’t want to waste too much limited word count bigging up Patashnik or Substrata before I talk about them. Besides, it sells Dropsonde short in the process.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Boards Of Canada - The Campfire Headphase

Warp Records: 2005

Also known as that Boards Of Canada album with all the guitars. Fuzzy guitars, acoustic guitars, distorted guitars, folksy guitars, and, most definitely, nostalgic guitars. It can't be a Boards album review without that word getting in, so may as well do it post-haste. It also was the Scottish duo's last LP for a significant amount of time, some wondering whether it would be their final one period. If it had, The Campfire Headcase - sorry, Headphase - would have been a rather limp conclusion to the Boards saga, almost an afterthought of an album where their genre indulgences sidetracked them from whatever future-classics could come hither. Tomorrow's Harvest saved us from that fate. Now, instead of treating this album like a disappointing denouement to an adored career, we can enjoy it based on its own merits, just like these Boards Of Canada undoubtedly wanted anyway.

And as a self-contained album, separate from artist narrative, how is The Campfire Headcase - dammit, PHase? Sure, it’s good – I mean, would you expect any less? Boards, if nothing else, are experts at crafting warm, charming music on the trip-hop tip. Whenever they get too cute with their concepts, over-indulge in numerological Easter eggs, or waste potentially great tunes with pointless doodles, that’s where our intrepid non-Canadian Canadas stumble. Just give us music, mang, songs that we can hazily drift along with.

For all the lasting impression the guitar work imparted on this album, The Campfire Headcase - arggh, PHASE - maybe a third of the tracks actually utilize the six-stringers. Not that I blame listeners remembering it as such, so front-loaded on here as they are. It also doesn’t hurt tracks like Chromakey Dreamcoat, Satelite Anthem Icarus, and Dayvan Cowboy (which was also tapped for single duty on Trans Canada Highway) worm their way into the noggin as only ‘Boards Of Canada goes shoegaze’ music can. The other half of this album is Boards being Boards as per usual. Detuned, crackly synths, gorgeous ambience, functional rhythms, and a total lack of quirky skits.

Wait, that’s something new! You mean to tell me The Campfase Headphire (*sigh*... I’ll dyslexia a cure this for...) doesn’t feature any weird-for-weird-sake bits of children dialog, clips of National Film Boards documentaries, or whatever else that made Music Has The Right To Children and Geogaddi the distinctive albums they were? There are still ambient interludes, but even they typically run lengthier compared to prior LPs’ doodles, most breaching well over the one-minute mark (I forgive A Moment Of Clarity for being under, since making it any longer wouldn’t make it a moment). And man, those last few tracks - Slow This Bird Down, Tears From The Compound Eye, and Farewell Fire - my heart bleeds, it does.

While I wouldn’t recommend The Campfire Headphase (yes!) as your diving off point with Boards Of Canada, it’s a worthy addition to your collection if Musical Children has tempted you for more. Although, I’m only preaching to the converted, aren’t I?

Monday, November 3, 2014

ACE TRACKS: September 2014

I haven't posted a permanent entry for September's ACE TRACKS playlist, have I? Guess I was in such a rush putting it together and over-excited to get it into the sidebar that it slipped my mind.



Full Track List Here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Androcell - Entheomystic
P.M. Dawn - Of The Heart, Of The Soul, & Of The Cross: The Utopian Experience (FOUND...?)
Also, most of those single-track ambient-drone albums aren't on Spotify either (surprise, I know), but then only Hansen's The Dome got ACE TRACK status out of those anyway.

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 15%
Percentage Of Neil Young: 2%
Most “WTF?” Track: Neil Young - Misfits (yes, the lone Young tune is a right oddity in this bundle – you'd almost think it was a... 'misfit'! Yeah? ...yeah)

This one was all over the place, which made it fun to sequence (Oliver Lieb and Type O Negative, together at last!), but maybe not so much of a listen. The gargantuan seven-plus hour run time couldn't have been appealing either, but considering the length of some of those ambient tracks, not unexpected. I don't know what else to say here that wouldn't come off like redundant information though. It's sat on the right of your screen for a month, more than enough time for regulars to take it in. If you're stumbling upon this blog at a later date though, here's a quick-and-dirty of what's on this playlist: hip-hop, electro, ambient, psy, techno, jazzy downtempo... you know, the usual things you'll find in most of my playlists.

Sykonee Surveys Spotify's Senseless Suggestions: Round 2

Spotify sure likes sending me suggestions more often than I anticipated. I think its best that I save my surveys until I clear batches of my review backlog, lest they impede my regular progress. I already make enough tangents these days, and I’ve some large bulks to plow through. Just look how many ‘O’s I reviewed, and that’s traditionally one of the ‘lesser’ letters to name your album with!

So last round’s recommendations leaned way heavy on the rock side of things, and not even rock I care much for. I’m giving Spotify the benefit of the doubt on its erroneous assumptions of my musical tastes, what with having so little time to get acquainted an all. It’ll have to butter me up better if it wants me to take its suggestions seriously going forward though. Let’s find out what Round 2 offers.

Kenny Chesney - 1. American Kids / 2. Somewhere With You

Oh for… Spotify, you couldn’t be more off if you tried. This is full-on modern country, which I absolutely, positively never-in-a-zillion years go out of my way to listen to. I don’t hate the stuff, but I’ve no reason to bother with that field of music in my life either. Chesney’s apparently one of the bigger names to emerge from country’s renewed dominance with youthful, tailgating demographics, and I’m quite thankful these two tracks don’t tread anywhere near the Georgia Straight Line dirt road of ‘bro-country’ (yes, this is a thing, and yes, it’s as awful as you’re imagining), but… yeah. This is just one big “NOPE” from me.

Odds I’ll Listen Again: 0/5

Radiohead - 3. Karma Police / 4. Paranoid Android

Come on, are you even trying, Spotify? You suggested these guys in the last email. Is Radiohead just a generic, go-to band to name drop? Are you trolling Thom Yorke’s anti-Spotify stance? Also, I’m somewhat disappointed that the next two tracks in this list are more from OK Computer. It’s clear the Top 5 has nothing to do with actual plays, as No Suprises from the last round lags well behind Karma Police by some seven million hits. If this is the case, why not feature more songs from their other albums, mix things up for the newbie Radiohead listener? Ah well, despite Spotify’s insistence at gumming the stats, my Odds score stands with this band.

Odds I’ll Listen Again: 3/5

Wu-Tang Clan - 1. C.R.E.A.M. / 2. Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit

I take it all back. Spotify, you totally get me. How’d you know I’d absolutely be down for some Wu-Tang Clan? Sure, I’ve Playlisted Raekwon, U-God, Masta Killa, and Ghostface Killah, but you figured out I might like the Clan having not played anything from RZA, GZA, Ol’ Dirty BZA, Method MZA, or Inspectah DZA (yet). Seriously, this couldn’t have been a more obvious recommendation than suggesting N.W.A. because I played some Dr. Dre or Ice Cube. Yeah, I’m gonna’ listen to the Wu again – they’ll be eventually in an ACE TRACKS Playlist after all – but it would have been nice for Spotify to show a little more intuition than this.

Odds I’ll Listen Again: 5/5

Mayday Parade - 3. Oh Well, Oh Well / 4. You’re Dead Wrong

I wasn’t terribly enthused by all the rock recommendations in Round 1, but I at least enjoyed the process of discovering a few new bands, some of which I’ll likely dabble in later on. Mayday Parade was not one of them, got’dang it. Seriously, I gave them an Odds score of 1/5 - I can’t even remember what I wrote about them, so off base with my tastes they were. These two songs are more of the same ‘arena-emo-rock-punk’ style I heard from the their first two, so it’s safe to say that’s the Mayday Parade stylee. No more for me, thanks.

Odds I’ll Listen Again: 0/5

Kid Cudi - 1. Pursuit Of Happiness (Extended Steve Aoki Remix) / 2. Just What I Am

I’m assuming I’m getting a Cudi suggestion for the prior hip-hop I’ve listened to, and not because Spotify thinks I’d be down for an Aoki remix or that I might like MGMT (because Radiohead, obviously). I’m honestly surprised to see that track as the first one, as it’s little more than your standard modern-day anthem house rub – there’s thousands of tracks like this one out the. The second track has some cool ambient-electro vibe going for it, but the lyrics are just wack ‘get-wrecked’ party-hop nonsense. He doesn’t even sound that sincere, simply catering to the festival kids. Or maybe that Aoki impression’s still lingering. Will have to hear more of his material for a better idea, and I suspect Spotify will force upon me at that.

Odds I’ll Listen Again: 2/5

Weezer - 1. Island In The Sun / 2. Say It Ain’t So

Well sure, may as well get these guys in there at some point. Like many of my teenaged era, I enjoyed their Blue Album, then promptly stopped giving a shit. Okay, that’s not entirely accurate – the ongoing drama of Weezer’s rise-fall-rise-fall-rise-fall in the world of pop is its own unique brand of fascinating for any music enthusiast. The last song I heard from them was the “we’re all on drugs” one, whatever it was called, and I can’t say I’m in a hurry to check out their back catalog. Although, hearing these two songs, especially Say It Ain’t So again, sure does tug at my nostalgic centre. Maybe I ought to finally check out that Pinkerton LP…

Odds I’ll Listen Again: 3/5

Pye Corner Audio - 1. Perfect Secrecy Forever / 2. Sleep Games

Ah, finally something that looks new and interesting. I’ve never heard of this guy before (Martin Jenkins), but he’s been quite busy on the digital release realm, putting out quite a few Black Mill Tapes between albums – he even offered them in tape formats! I should also mention these two tracks aren’t the first pair of suggestions at Spotify, but since the proper first two are both on the John Talbot DJ-Kicks mix, I figured these are more representative of what Pye’s all about. Perfect Secrecy Forever, which came out this year, has a chill-trance New Beat thing going for it, which has been seeing something of a minor bump in interest of late. Sleep Games, the older cut, has a similar sluggish rhythm, though has more of a classic EBM menace about it. I like it. The world could use more New Beat.

Odds I’ll Listen Again: 4/5

Grateful Dead - 3. Touch Of Grey / 4. Truckin’

Another repeat. But wait, this Grateful Dead has a different picture. Maybe it’s a different Grateful Dead, one that- (*clicks link*) Nope, still the same ol’ Dead. What’s funny is Touch Of Grey is about the only Dead song I know off hand, and only because it was so ubiquitous on classic rock stations. I also didn’t know it was a Dead song because it sounds so bloody ‘80s, and that’s the last era of music I’d associate with the band, despite their activity lasting well into that decade. Truckin’ is more what you’d expect from a ‘60s hippie jam band. Nothing else to say here that I didn’t say in Round 1.

Odds I’ll Listen Again: 3/5

will.i.am - 1. Scream & Shout / 2. Feelin’ Myself



Odds I’ll Listen Again: 0/5

Hybrid Minds - 3. Fade / 4. Trauma

Finally… finally, a repeat I was looking forward to. Only took you four tries to get that right, Spotify. These songs are also from two more different singles, so mixing things up too. I just might not give up on you after all, Spotify Suggestions. Fade and Trauma stick to the same smooth, jazzy liquid-funk vibe that’s given Hybrid Minds props within the jungle scene. Getting more of their tunes just became higher.

Odds I’ll Listen Again: 4/5


This Survey was even more erratic than the last one, yet somehow comes away with a near-identical final tally of 24/50. If this feature’s supposed to improve with the more data it gathers on my listening habits, this is actually a worse result than before. I can’t imagine the Artist Suggestions getting any lower than will.i.am though. It just can’t…

Sunday, November 2, 2014

ACE TRACKS: October 2014

One month past. Feels like forever since I started up with this Spotify Deezer thinger, yet here we are, finally with a new permanent Playlist for the sidebar to last us another month. Here are the choice cuts from what I reviewed in October.


Full track list here.

Missing Albums:
Calibre - Overflow (FOUND!)
Sunbeam - Out Of Reality
Astropilot - Here And Now
TUU - One Thousand Years (FOUND!)
The Orb - The Orb’s Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld (FOUND!)
Various - One A.D. (FOUND!)


Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 16%
Percentage Of Neil Young: 5%
Most “WTF?” Track: Aphex Twin - Xepha (like anyone else could take this spot)

Waveform Records isn't on Spotify [but are on Deezer!]. I have the sads now, since I can’t share the music they’ve put out exclusively through their label (not to mention some of the older rarities). You’ll just have to settle for the crummy Amazon clips below their reviews or, I dunno, go to their website and buy the music. It’s a worthy purchase, trust me on that.

I’m surprised by how flowing, dynamic, and fun this playlist turned out. You’d think an over-abundance of music from Raekwon, The Orb, and ambient-psy/chill-dub would make for another relatively dull collection of tunes (those May and June ones were kinda’ drab), but nay, there’s enough quirky tangents (Rock! Nu-Jazzsteps! “Peanuts!”) to keep things fresh as it plays through. Won’t deny it’s a long listen though, clocking in at nearly seven hours in length. Hey, I listened to a lot of good music in October, and now you can too, with a few play throughs! Or split it up into chunks. It’s what I do.

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 2024 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 Abstrakce Records AC/DC Ace Trace Ace Tracks Playlists Ace Ventura acid acid house acid jazz acid techno acid trance 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 Aesthetical 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 Antares 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 Arctic Hospital Arcturus arena rock Arista Armada Armin van Buuren Arpatle Artifact303 Arts & Crafts As If 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. The Prince Of Rap B°TONG B12 Babygrande Balance Balanced Records Balearic ballad Bålsam Banco de Gaia Bandulu Barker & Baumecker Battle Axe Records battle-rap Bauri Beastie Boys Beat Buzz Records Beat Pharmacy Beatbox Machinery Beats & Pieces bebop Beck Bedouin Soundclash Bedrock Records Beechwood Music Ben Sims Benny Benassi Bent Benz Street US Berlin-School Beto Narme Beyond bhangra Bicep big beat Big Boi Big Dada Recordings Big L Big Life Bill Hamel Bill Laswell Bill Leeb BIlly Idol BineMusic BioMetal Biophon Records Biosphere Bipolar Music BKS Black Hole Recordings black metal black rebel motorcycle club Black Swan Sounds Blanco Y Negro Blasterjaxx Bleep Blend Blood Music Blow Up Blue Amazon Blue Hour Blue Öyster Cult blues blues rock Bluescreen Bluetech BMG Boards Of Canada Bob Dylan Bob Marley Bobina Bogdan Raczynzki Bombay Records Bone Thugs-N-Harmony Boney M Bong Load Records Bonobo Bonzai Boogie Down Productions Booka Shade Boom Boom Satellites Botchit & Scarper Bows Boxed Boys Noize Boysnoize Records BPitch Control braindance Brandt Brauer Frick Brasil & The Gallowbrothers Band breakbeats breakcore breaks Brian Eno Brian Wilson Brick Records Britpop Brodinski broken beat Brooklyn Music Ltd brostep Bryan Adams BT Bubble Buffalo Springfield Bulk Recordings Burial Burned CDs Bursak Records Bush Busta Rhymes Buttertones bvdub C.I.A. Calibre calypso Canibus Canned Resistor Canopy Of Stars Capitol Records Capsula Captain Hollywood Project Captured Digital Carbon Based Lifeforms Caribou Carl B Carl Craig Carlos Ferreira Carol C Caroline Records Carpe Sonum Novum Carpe Sonum Records Castroe Casual Cat Sun CD-Maximum Ceephax Acid Crew Celestial Dragon Records Cell Celtic Centaspike Cevin Fisher Cheb i Sabbah Cheeky Records chemical breaks Chihei Hatakeyama Children Of The Bong chill out chill-out chiptune Chris Duckenfield Chris Fortier Chris Korda Chris Liebing Chris Sheppard Chris Witoski Christmas Christopher Lawrence Chromeo Chronos Chrysalis Ciaran Byrne cinematic soundscapes Circle of Pines Circular Ciro Berenguer Cirrus Cities Last Broadcast City Of Angels CJ Stone Claptone classic house classic rock classical Claude VonStroke Claude Young Clear Label Records Clementz Cleopatra Cloud 9 Club Culture Club Cutz Club Tools Cocoon Recordings Cold Spring Coldcut Coldplay coldwave Colette collagist Columbia Com.Pact Records Coma Eye comedy Compilation Comrie Smith Congo Natty Conjure One Connect.Ohm conscious Control Music Convextion Cooking Vinyl Cor Fijneman Corderoy Cosmic Gate Cosmic Replicant Cosmo Cocktail Cosmos Studios Cottonbelly Council Estate Electronics Council Of Nine Counter Records country country rock Covert Operations Recordings Craig Padilla Craig Richards Crazy Horse Cream Creamfields Creedence Clearwater Revival Crockett's Theme Crosby Stills And Nash Crossing Mind Crosstown Rebels crunk Cryo Chamber Cryobiosis Cryogenic Weekend Cryostasis Crystal Moon Cube Guys Culture Beat Curb Records Current Curve cut'n'paste CYAN Cyan Music Cyber Productions CyberOctave Cyclic Law Cygna Cymphonica Cypher 7 Cypress Hill Cyril Secq Czarface D York D-Bridge D-Fuse D-Topia Entertainment Daar Dacru Records Daddy G Daft Punk Dag Rosenqvist Damian Lazarus Damon Albarn Damon Wild Dan Terminus Dan The Automator Dance 2 Trance Dance Pool Dance With The Dead dancehall Daniel Heatcliff Daniel Lentz Daniel Pemberton Daniel Wanrooy Danny Howells Danny Tenaglia Dao Da Noize Daphni dark ambient dark disco dark psy darkcore darkside darkstep darksynth darkwave Darla Records Darren Emerson Darren McClure Darren Nye DAT Records Databloem dataObscura David Alvarado David Bickley David Bridie David Cordero David Guetta David Morley DDR De-tuned Dead Coast Dead Melodies Deadmau5 Death Grips death metal Death Row Records Decimal Deconstruction Dedicated Deejay Goldfinger Deep Dish Deep Forest deep house deep tech Deeply Rooted House Deepwater Black Deetron Def Jam Recordings Del Tha Funkee Homosapien Delerium Delsin Deltron 3030 Denshi Danshi Depeche Mode Der Dritte Raum Derek Carr Detroit Deviant Records Devin Underwood Devroka Deysn Masiello DFA DGC diametric. Dido Dieselboy Different DigiCube Dillinja Dirk Serries dirty house Dirty South Dirty Vegas Dis Fig disco Disco Gecko disco house Disco Pinata Records disco punk Discover (label) Disky Disques Dreyfus Distant System Distinct'ive Breaks Disturbance Divination DJ 3000 DJ Brian DJ Craze DJ Dag DJ Dan DJ Dean DJ Gonzalo DJ Heather DJ John Kelley DJ John Storm DJ Merlin DJ Mix DJ Moe Sticky DJ Observer DJ Premier DJ Q-Bert DJ Shadow DJ Soul Slinger DJ-Kicks Djen Ajakan Shean DJMag DMC DMC Records Doc Scott Dogon Dogwhistle Dooflex Doom Poets Dopplereffekt Dossier Dousk downtempo dowtempo Dr. Alban Dr. Atmo Dr. Dre Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show Dr. Octagon Dragon Quest dream house dream pop Dreamworks DreamWorks Records Drexciya drill 'n' bass Dronarivm drone Dronny Darko drum 'n' bass DrumNBassArena drumstep drunken review dub Dub Pistols dub techno Dub Trees Dubfire dubstep Dubtribe Sound System DuMonde Dune Dusted Dyadik Dynatron E-Mantra E-Z Rollers Eardream Music Earth Earth Nation Earthling Eastcoast Eastcost Eastern Dub Tactik EastWest Eastworld Eat Static EBM Echodub Ed Rush & Optical Editions EG EDM World Weekly News Ektoplazm Electric Universe electro Electro House Electro Sun electro-funk electro-pop electroclash Electronic Dance Essentials Electronic Music Guide Electrovoya Elektra Elektrolux Ellen Allien em:t EMC update EMI Emiliana Torrini Eminem Emmerichk Emperor Norton Empire enCAPSULAte Encym Engine Recordings Enigma Enmarta Ensiferum Enya EP Epic epic trance EQ Recordings Equal Stones Erased Tapes Records Eric Borgo Erik Vee Erol Alkan Erot Escape Esko Barba Esoteric Reactive Espacio Cielo ethereal Etic Etnica Etnoscope Euphoria euro dance eurodance eurotrance Eurythmics Eve Records Everlast Ewan Pearson Exitab experimental Eye Q Records Ezdanitoff F Communications Fabric Facture Fade Records Faex Optim Faint Faithless Falcon Reekon Fallen False Mirror fanfic Fantastisizer Fantasy Enhancing faru Fatboy Slim Fax +49-69/450464 Fear Factory Fedde Le Grand Fehrplay Feist Fektive Records Felix da Housecat Fennesz Ferry Corsten FFRR Fictivision field recordings Filter Filteria filters Final Fantasy Firescope Five AM Fjäder Flashover Recordings Floating Points Flowers For Bodysnatchers Flowjob Fluke Fluxion Flying Lotus folk Fontana footwork Force Intel Fountain Music Four Tet FPU Frame Frame Of Mind Francis M Gri Franck Vigroux Frank Bretschneider Frankie Bones Frankie Knuckles Frans de Waard Fred Everything freestyle French house Front Line Assembly Frou Frou fsoldigital.com Fugees full-on Fun Factory Function funk future garage Future Sound Of London Futuregrapher futurepop g-funk G-Prod gabber Gabriel Le Mar Gaither Music Group Galaktlan Galati Gang Starr gangsta garage Gareth Davis Gary Martin Gas Gasoline Alley Records Gee Street Geffen Records Gel-Sol Genesis Geometry Combat George Issakidis Gerald Donald Gerd Get Physical Music GGGG ghetto Ghostface Killah Ghostly International Glacial Movements Records glam Gliese 581C glitch Glitch Hop Global Communication Global Underground Globular goa trance Goasia God Body Disconnect God's Groove Gorillaz gospel Gost goth Grammy Awards Gravediggaz Green Bay Wax Green Day Grey Area Greytone Gridlock grime Groove Armada Groove Corporation Grooverider grunge Guru Gustaf Hidlebrand Gusto Records GZA H:U:M H2O Records Haddaway Halgrath happy hardcore hard house hard rock hard techno hard trance hardcore Hardfloor Hardly Art hardstyle Harlequins Enigma Harmless Harmonic 33 Harmonic Resonance Recordings Harold Budd Harthouse Harthouse Mannheim Havoc Hawtin Headphone Hearts Of Space Hed Kandi Hefty Records Helen Marnie Hell Hercules And Love Affair Hernán Cattáneo Herne Hexstatic Hi-Bias Records Hic Sunt Leones Hide And Sequence Hiero Emperium Hieroglyphics High Contrast High Note Records Higher Ground Higher Intelligence Agency Hilyard hip-hop hip-house hipno Hollywood Burns Home Normal Honest Jon's Records Hooj Choons Hope Records horrorcore Hospital Records Hot Chip Hotflush Recordings house Howie B Huey Lewis & The News Human Blue Humanoid Hybrid Hybrid Leisureland Hymen Records Hyperdub Hypertrophy Hypnotic Hypnoxock I Awake I-Cube i! Records I.F. I.F.O.R. I.R.S. Records Iboga Records Icarus Music Ice Cube Ice H2o Records ICE MC IDM Iempamo Ignis Fatum Igorrr Ikjoyce illbient ILUITEQ Imba Imogen Heap Imperial Dancefloor Imploded View In Charge In The Face Of In Trance We Trust Incoming Incubus Indica Records indie rock Indisc Industrial Infastructure New York Infected Mushroom Infinite Guitar influence records Infonet Inhmost Ink Midget Inner Ocean Records Innovative Leisure Records Insane Clown Posse Inspectah Deck Instinct Ambient Instra-Mental Intellitronic Bubble Inter-Modo Interchill Records Internal International Deejays Gigolo Interscope Records Intimate Productions Intuition Recordings ISBA Music Entertainment Ishkur Ishq Island Def Jam Music Group Island Records Islands Of Light Italians Do It Better italo disco italo house Item Caligo J-pop Jack Moss Jackpot Jacob Newman Jafu Jake Stephenson Jam and Spoon Jam El Mar James Blake James Holden James Horner James Lavelle James Murray James Zabiela Jamie Jones Jamie Myerson Jamie Principle Jamiroquai Javelin Ltd. Jay Haze Jay Tripwire Jaydee jazz jazz dance jazzdance jazzstep Jean-Michel Jarre Jeannine Sculz Jefferson Airplane Jerry Goldsmith Jesper Dahlbäck Jesse Rose Jessy Lanza Jimmy Van M Jiri.Ceiver Jive Jive Electro Jliat Jlin JMJ Joel Mull Joey Beltram John '00' Fleming John Acquaviva John Beltran John Digweed John Graham John Kelly John O'Callaghan John Oswald John Shima John Tejada Johnny Cash Johnny Jewel Jon Hester Jonny L Jori Hulkkonen Joris Voorn Jørn Stenzel Josh Christie Josh Wink Journeys By DJ™ LLC Joyful Noise Recordings Juan Atkins juke Jump Cut jump up Jumpin' & Pumpin' jungle Junior Boy's Own Junkie XL Juno Reactor Jupiter 8000 Jurassic 5 Justin Timberlake Ka-Sol Kaico Kay Wilder KDJ Keith Farrugia Ken Ishii Kenji Kawai Kenny Glasgow Keoki Keosz Kerri Chandler Kevin Braheny Kevin Yost Kevorkian Records Khetzal Khooman Khruangbin Ki/oon Kid Koala Kiko Killing Joke Kinder Atom Kinetic Records King Cannibal King Midas Sound King Tubby Kiphi Kitaro Klang Elektronik Klaus Schulze Klik Records KMFDM Koch Records Koichi Sugiyama Kolhoosi 13 Komakino Kompakt Kon Kan Kontor Records Kool Keith Kozo Kraftwelt Kraftwerk Krafty Kuts Kranky krautrock Kriistal Ann Krill.Minima Kris O'Neil Kriztal KRS-One Kruder and Dorfmeister Krusseldorf Krystian Shek Kubinski KuckKuck Kulor Kurupt Kwook L.B. 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