Frou Frou - Details

MCA Records: 2002

(a Patreon Request)

Like 97% of the world, I've only really known Imogen Heap via memes. Absolutely she has fans that extend beyond those hearing her synthesized croon as some helpless schlub is ironically shot in slow motion. Some of them even existed before Hide And Seek became her defining work. The amount of buzz that single generated for her career cannot be denied though, going from a non-charting oddity to Top 5 selling artist in America. Even Zach Braff including her Frou Frou track Let Go didn't accomplish that!

Right, to call this a strict Imogen project would do Guy Sigsworth a great injustice. Yeah, that's her voice on all the songs, and her glamming it up like she's about to go shopping Madison Avenue on the cover art, but Frou Frou was initially the brain-birth of Mr. Sigsworth. He'd participated in a few mildly successful UK bands in the '90s, but truly made a name for himself lending his production talents to the likes of Seal, Madonna, and Björk. He also crossed paths with a young lass with a quirky name, and helped produce her debut single called Getting Scared. I cannot deny it's weird seeing Ms. Heap as a raver-goth grrl in that video, given the future her career would take.

Anyhow, itching to make a proper album of his own, Guy set out to do just that, working under the project handle of Frou Frou. Realizing he needed a little female vocal talent to give his songs that extra bit of class, he got in touch with Imogen again for a contributing lyric or two. She soon became so involved with the creative process that they decided to make the whole Frou Frou gig a collaborative process. And thus Details came forth to much... mm, no, 'aplomb' isn't the right word. It did okay, from what I can tell (I recall Breathe In being rather popular on the radio for a spell), but it didn't light the UK on fire either. Still, those college kids in America seemed to like it, enough for a lengthy tour there.

I can hear why this album was popular with such a particular demographic – this totally makes sense hearing out at coffee shops or sorority parties. Guy definitely knows his way around a studio, expertly blending multitudes of instruments and musical styles into an indie-pop soup such that Details defies easy genre classification (my WMP suggests New Wave; capital attempt, ol' chap). To my ears though, that studio expertise flattens my enjoyment out of this album. The music within is just a tad too slick and polished, such that it kinda' fades to the background of my attention after a few tracks (the delightfully twee Maddening Shroud notwithstanding). As for Imogen, she sounds fine, I guess, certainly an integral part of the Frou Frou package. The chorus to Breathe In aside, however, nothing here eclipses Hide And Seek. And how could it, the latter a fixture of late '00s meme culture?

Coma Eye - Insufflated Brine Shrimp

self-released: 2020

(a Patreon Request)

I'm surprised this doesn't happened more often. These Patreon Requests have mostly been as I expected, if not so dominated by a select few. Getting my thoughts on items I've overlooked in the past, or throwing some shine on genres outside my usual wheel-house (so much Japanese music... just so much), that's usually how it goes. Somehow I haven't received requests for anything intended for a roast, as can happen, but I guess I haven't gained a reputation as that sort of review blogger. Come to think of it, I don't think I've gained any sort of reputation. Which is ...good? Like, I have a real life and a real job, and becoming Internet Famous could severely impact that. Yes, even Good Internet Famous (is there a Good Internet Famous?).

Thus getting requests as a means of promotional hype has been exceedingly rare on the Patreon front. I can't imagine my word carries very far or has any influence – I do this as a lark, not as a profession. Folks would have more success sharing things on streaming services than the slim hopes someone may stumble upon this blog and wade through over two-thousand posts to see their stuff given some shine. Then there's the whole 'ethics' of it all, getting paid to potentially hype something up. Never mind I'm quite honest in my feelings over whatever I listen to, there's just this whole assumption, see. Then again, I've actually reviewed promo stuff from my local talent, so where do I get off on this holier-than-Pitckfork shtick?

Speaking of 'local talent', listening to this debut EP from Coma Eye reminds me of the sort of live PA acts I often hear at Vancouver's bi-annual Sequential Circus showcase. Apparently Coma Eye is part of one such scene, hailing from New Orleans but somewhat involved with Erie's electronic music scene. As in, 'Lake Erie' Erie? Wouldn't make sense to have an Erie in Louisiana, now would it? That'd be like having a town called Tsimshian on the Hudson Bay (very local joke).

Won't deny I didn't have high hopes for this after the first couple tracks. IDM can go oh-so very wrong and off the rails without a steady hand, producers too often thinking MOAR stuttery-glitch means MOAR awesome. Coupled with ultra-twee perversions of electro-pop sampling, and the palming of my face is complete whenever I hear that kind of stuff. Coma Eye doesn't go quite that far, but does take a longing glance at the edge of that cliff.

Or maybe my ears just prefer when she takes things down the breakneck acid techno road with HORSE. Or the creepy sludge-glitch of Conquered In The Concord Gel. Or the trippiest-hop of Do You Love Your Granny?. That's the darned thing about these IDM wonks: when no sounds or styles are off limits, they're bound to stumble upon something that connects with the cochlea. Some have better batting averages than other, but even a .500 on a six-track EP ain't too shabby.

Airwaves - Biomechanical

Carpe Sonum Records: 2018

The spiritual successor to Fax+ has been on a heck of a run these past few years, such that I grow ever more flustered with each passing newsletter of their releases. It's sadly been nearly two years since I've picked anything up from them, and it's not for a lack of interest, believe you me (so many 'blue covers'... just, so many...). They've simply grown more than I'm sure anyone could have predicted, but since their run of CDs aren't as limited as similar labels go, there's a sense of biding time with Carpe Sonum. Dabble here and there, particularly with artists you're not always familiar with but features striking cover art. Ah, this Biomechanical looks intriguingly unique, why not that?

Thing with Carpe Sonum is I generally have a good inkling of what I'm going to get with them, typically ambient and ambient techno with a '90s feel for it. Imagine my surprise, then, when listening to this CD for the first time, it went ultra-retro, all the way back to the '70s! Not that I hadn't heard such stylistic dalliances from the label before, and honestly, it's not like ambient as a genre is so specific to decades as other electronic music is. Still, you can just tell when some pieces have influence from earlier eras than others. It's all in the gear used, m'man, and the chap behind Airwaves, he was a connoisseur of vintage gear indeed.

Right, Airwaves, or Oscar Menzel, as inscribed on his obituary. He passed away earlier the previous decade, but left quite the impact upon the Mexican ambient scene, in that anyone was even aware it existed at all. He released two albums as Airwaves way back when, which naturally are super-rare. Additionally, they were on Opción Sónica, an L.A. based, Mexican-focused outlet that didn't last into the new millennium, specializing the harder side of rock and EBM, placing Airwaves well outside the label's usual fare. Basically all odds dictated Airwaves should have been hopelessly buried in obscurity, yet some folks did discover him. Then his music generated enough positive buzz that Carpe Sonum somehow unearthed more unreleased material from the Menzel estate, two album's worth, in fact (as I was gathering pre-notes for Biomechanical, Carpe Sonum released Multiverse... I did not plan this!). I feel like this chain of events could only have happened in the modern era, what with archival websites like Discogs letting super-diggers know of Mexican ambient composers releasing music on '90s industrial labels and all.

I also feel kind of bad in thinking the story behind Airwaves is more interesting than the music on Biomechanical. It's decent enough as an assortment of pieces feeding off that vintage Tangerine Dream vibe, with a lean towards the New Age side of things. Aside from a couple tracks that sounds like it should be in a direct-to-VHS horror movie, it's all rather pleasant and nice stuff. The adherence to vintage gear does give it all a dated feel though, even with a spiffy modern mastering job.

London Elektricity - Billion Dollar Gravy (2020 Update)

Hospital Records: 2003

(Click here to read my original TranceCritic review)

For some reason, I got it in my mind I'd written that original review a year later than I had. I know, I know, fifteen years on, and the difference is negligible now, but it does say something about the blurring of time within our memories. I recall us folks at TranceCritic delaying our debut d'n'b reviews for a long while, practically as a joke, though not as long as I apparently remember. In fact, beyond a couple key highlights (me realizing I was gonna' have to be more involved than just 'editor' if things were to get rolling; first time receiving promo packages for psy trance; getting snubbed by Paul van Dyk's PR team because of Jack's review of Politics Of Dancing 2; Cobalt drawing the ire of the Cult Of Schulz) much of that first year is basically fuzz now.

But you're not reading this to reminisce with me (well, maybe a couple are). You want to know whether Billion Dollar Gravy holds up after all this time, and whether there's any new insights nearly two decades of passed time can offer. To answer those curtly, yes and no. I mean, it's not like the liquid funk style was in much need of evolution, most of its defining traits and lasting appeal cemented with albums such as this one. Absolutely it could have gone down some different paths along the way, but as is so often the case with the d'n'b scene, stray just a little too far, and you've basically created yet another genre, purists of the old forsaking its offspring. And while the Electronic Music Genre Standards and Classifications Consortium still debates whether 'dancefloor' constitutes its own genre, comparing that stuff to liquid funk of old (yes, including Hospital Records stuffs) does improve its chances. In that 'dancefloor' is generally bollocks, and Billion Dollar Gravy is not.

I won't deny skipping on London Elektricity after this because I feared Tony Colman couldn't resist chasing that cheesy-pap trend. Some of the star acts signed to Hospital Records, like Camo & Krooked, Logistics, and Netsky, hadn't impressed me much (to say nothing of the 'evolution' of High Contrast), so I just assumed the whole of Hospital had gone that route, including the label's founder. A follow-up album called Power Ballads, the hokiest of sentimental aggro-music out there, didn't do much to allay my suspicions either.

Still, I couldn't well do a 2020 Update on Billion Dollar Gravy without at least checking out the latest London Elektricity album, last year's Building Better Worlds. And gosh, is this ever a mellow album. For sure it's still got that liquid funk pep, but more focused on the soul portion of the classic 'fast-soul music' concept. Are his other albums like this? *checks Syncopated City and Are We There Yet?* Huh, so they are, more or less. How about the rest of the Hospital crew, is there some variety there too? *scopes out S.P.Y.* Well, if that don't trigger the nostalgia endorphines, b'gar!

Bill Laswell - Bill Laswell

(~): 2002

Track List:

1. Psychonavigation - Black Dawn
2. Divination - Descent
3. Above The Earth
4. Bob Marley - The Heathen (Bill Laswell Ambient Dub Mix)
5. Sacred System - Babylon Ghost
6. Commander Guevara
7. Sacred System - Galactic Zone
8. White Arc Spiral
9. Bonus: Brian Eno - 1/1

Not as redundant a burned disc as you'd expect, but yeah, I've gathered a few of these on their proper albums now (Sacred System's Book Of Entrance and that Bob Marley remix project). Still, that's another handful of Bill Laswell jams I haven't gotten either, hence why this old personal compilation has remained with me all this time. I had to do something with all those Laswell tracks I nabbed off AudioGalaxy, see, put some order into that bundle of discographical chaos. Oh, how little did I know I was just barely scratching the surface of how deep it went. Ah well, it's a pretty tidy little summation of his '90s work, mostly on that ambient jazz-dub tip.

Like, I didn't even realize I'd gotten one of the Psychonavigation cuts, though listening to Black Dawn, and those distinct Pete Namlook synths in play, the similarities to those sessions is very apparent. I probably didn't clue in though, since this is a shorter version of the track, whereas the original was over a dozen minutes long. Apparently this cut comes from a double-disc compendium of Laswell music called, um, Ambient Compendium. Also from this compilation is Descent, which originally appeared in longer form on the third Divination album, Akasha. It's along the same lines as the minimalist stuff that project offered.

The other three tracks come from a pair of Bill's regular albums – yes, he even released under his own name too! Above The Earth is more typical of his heavy bass-dub ethnic music, though with the added 'gimmick' of some spoken word stuff too. Meanwhile, Commander Guevara and White Arc Spiral come from Invisible Design, which features different bass tones compared to his vintage low, grumbly style. These are mellow, soft, almost in the range of treble, and played far jazzier than his other stuff I've covered. I'm sure bass guitar experts could fill you in the precise details, but I honestly can't be bothered to do the research. If Laswell's guttural bass tone isn't to your liking though, maybe this one would do you better.

Well, that was a fun little dive into more Bill Laswell, but what's this at the end? A Brian Eno track? And not just any Brian Eno track, but the first track from his first ambient album, Music For Airports (aka: the piano one). What's that doing here?

Ah, see, it comes back to that whole 'raiding AudioGalaxy' thing. Naturally I'd have searched out some Eno, since it was Very Important to ambient as a whole and all that. I saw I had some space left on my disc, and had 1/1 in my folder, so figured may as well stick it on here. I really ought to get Music For Airports proper-like at some point though.

Banco de Gaia - Big Men Cry

Mammoth Records: 1997

Though I place Big Men Cry at the tippy-top of Banco de Gaia albums, if I were to recommend a record for a first-timer, this would be, like, second-to-last. For this is an album that doesn't so much represent Banco as a whole, but rather the bleeding edge of what Banco is capable of.

Even by Last Train To Lhasa, it was clear the classic ambient dub and progressive house style Toby made hay from was tiring out, needing a whole second disc to indulge himself away from dance music's rules. Possibly emboldened by the 'live' nature of those sessions, plus needing to 'evolve or die' in the rapidly mutating scene that was '90s electronica', Toby decided it was time to get the old band back together. Or start up a new band. Get more live instruments into his gigs, is what I'm saying.

And to do that, his approach to songcraft had to completely change, allowing for more freeform flow in his jams than relying on standard acid house loops and samples. Oh, there was still that too, but tracks Drippy and Drunk As A Monk feel far looser than Banco tunes of old, adaptable to musicians playing them rather than being reliant on machines. Meanwhile, Celestine tries the same trick with ambient dub, but despite some wonderful saxophone tooting from Pink Floyd alum Dick Parry, is still a bit stiff compared to the other two. Marks would iron out those kinks in follow-up albums though, and hasn't looked back since.

Still, that wasn't enough to shake Toby out of the doldrums he was feeling around this time. So down he was that he made one of his all-time saddest songs in the titular track, all forlorn strings and beautifully weepy melodies, never again so bare heart-wrenching emotions put to song. Sometimes though, even nakedly laying out one's soul isn't enough. Sometimes you need to escape everything, even if it's One Billion Miles Out, the great beyond and grandeur of the cosmos, unsullied by the hand of man. Banco had ventured into the cosmic realm before, but never in such a manner that you fear its unfathomable desolation.

Yet your gaze settles upon a lone star freighter, quietly drifting in the emptiness, its cargo unknown as it moves through the interstellar medium. Eventually it pulls into Starstation Earth for refuelling and a greasy meal, a real dive of a 'trucker's stop', your only company some droids and a sad-sack singing old country croons from a jukebox. Can't stay admiring the scenery though, as it's back to the stars, taking off at hyperspeed and disappearing into the great beyond before Toby quite literally closes the gate on the album (have I mentioned all the pronounced field recordings yet?).

Banco's music has always been quite 'visual', but Big Men Cry is downright cinematic compared to his larger body of work, pulling you into other worlds well beyond your crusty dance floors. It's emotional escapism music at its finest.

Almost back to some semblance of sanity, here in Canadaland

I sometimes wish I could be more forthright about my line of work. Absolutely it is a good idea to keep my Online and Meat Space activities as separate as possible, but hoo, some of the tales I could bring about the inner workings.

These past few months have been a real exercise in discovering just how many facets of my job there can be. I was already given the reigns to run a place as I saw fit to my whims, as I was essentially the only employee there. Which was fine until COVID-19 hit, after which I was suddenly an Essential Service and business boomed well beyond what an individual was capable of. But still, it was all stuff I was familiar with and could handle. Then I got called upon to help set-up a new location, and my compartmentalized little world was suddenly thrown into chaos. Well, more so.

I didn't think it would be much different than prepping a music festival, but oh was I ever wrong. So many things to do and get done, but the worst part was I wasn't very much involved with any of it. And what I was doing felt mostly like just busy-work, given menial tasks because I didn't have the 'expertise' to do specific things. When you go from doing all the things to doing almost nothing (but are still expected to look busy), that has a surprising knock-on affect on your general demeanor, to say nothing of how much that can carry home with you. Thank God I didn't try blogging any of that stuff! Couple it with keeping abreast of the shit-show that is American Politics, and is it any wonder I've been negligent here?

That's all past though. The new location is up and running, I've been positioned in a place I know I excel in without having to worry about excessive responsibilities (I've had my fill of being The Man, thanks), and my province is cautiously optimistic about opening for the summer (except the southern border). I've suddenly been able to get much better sleep than I have in months, bizarre dreams about obsessing over the band Chilliwack aside. It may still take a bit of time for my blogging routine to recover from this downswing of activity, but at least my surrounding life feels almost normal again.

Various - Big Dirty Beats 2: Bigger Dirtier Beats

Moonshine Music: 1999

Here's an audacious proclamation: Big Dirty Beats 2 may very well be the last, great big beat compilation ever made. Yeah, the genre still had some life in it for a number of years after, and the big players in big beat kept releasing albums for decades longer. Heck, there may even be a few solid DJ mixes scattered about in the 21st Century from said big players showcasing some extra longevity in the old girl. Plus, how can I make such a claim without having heard every big beat compilation released after this one? Honestly, I don't even know of any such releases from after the year 2000, nor am I anxious to trawl the depth of Lord Discog's tomes in search of such items to prove my audacious proclamation.

Yet I confidently make it, for a few reasons. One, the genre itself truly was on the outs shortly after this CD came out. As mentioned, the Fatboys, Chemical Bros and Propellerheads of the world could still make hay from it, while the soundtrack business remained quite lucrative. That was about the extent of its market penetration though, the top spots already filled, and little to no room for newer cats to stake a claim. Besides, there was a new-fangled sub-genre of breaks gaining positive underground cred; a nu-er 'skool', if you will. Sorry, big beat, but may as well make a name in that scene instead when Junkie XL is getting all the plush scoring gigs.

In my books (and my blog), what makes a great compilaton truly great is not stuffing a pile of recognizable hits and names and calling it a day. It's unearthing overlooked gems that properly represent whatever your CD's theme is selling. Unfortunately for big beat, such occurrences had grown exceedingly rare by the turn of the century due to the above factors. Even this series from Moonshine never made it past its second volume, but if Big Dirty Beats 2 was to be its swan song, it was a heck of a way to go out.

Right off, you know you're in for something better than the norm, as the CD opens with not The Wiseguys' huge hit Ooh La La, but their lesser hit Start The Commotion. Okay, the tracks are practically the same, but it at least shows Moonshine thinking outside the box. At the other end of the CD is Lunatic Calm, LC001 (Neon Ray Mix), and if you're drawing a big ol' blank on that tune, that's just because you never looked further into Lunatic Calm's discography post-Metropol. The only other 'star acts' here is Omar Santana and Cirrus, with their future video-game staple Time's Running Out, but I'll allow it, as it's a dope tune. (also, Afrika Bambaataa, but his cut isn't much of anything)

The remaining seven tracks feature acts with barely any Discoggian presence, offering up a variety of breaks that are as big, dirty, and dope as anything the stars of the day made. *chef's kiss*

Neo-Adventures - Big Daddy's Tonight

Hypnotic: 1997

This feels like one of the most needlessly ambitious albums to have ever graced the Hypnotic discography. For one thing, did you know that Neo-Adventures is a super-group? Okay, not really a 'super-group' how you may think of (big names combining forces to do big th'angs), but in terms of Hypnotic, I think the description is apt.

Three chaps are part of this project, most prominent of the bunch being Martin Nielsen. You might remember me mentioning him in that Goa Box: Trance 4 Motion compilation many solar cycles ago, wherein he adopted multiple aliases to fill out a budget trance three-discer. Normally such antics are dodgy as fuck, but his contributions were surprisingly among the best that collection had to offer. He even had a pile of tunes in another dodgy compilation of mine, Rave-Trance 2001, and again were among the better tracks there.

So while I know this won't be some mind-melting hidden gem of exceptional trance (because c'mon!), there's at least a capable hand in the studio. Along for the ride is the late Jan Kjølhede Meedom, whom had done a few productions with various groups here and there throughout the '90s, but was more known for his DJing and label management. Outloud Records (they of Audio Science, Bypass Unit, and a lot of sado-masochist gabber) was his first taste of success, and responsible for numerous Hypnotic releases as a result. This led to him taking over the Danish side of the print, where he carried on doing goa trance mixes for the label before moving on.

Also part of Neo-Adventures is Jakob Andreas Mensch. Lord Discogs has very little information about him, a jazz-dub trip-hop project with Mr. Nielsen called Katharsis his lone prominent work. Neo-Adventures too, I guess.

A pile of dudes in the studio doesn't make a project 'needlessly ambitious' though – just ask Kraftwelt. Nah, I'm talking about the music within, tunes aesthetically on that Danish goa-trance tip, but so very much aiming at progressive house opulence. Second track Good Old Adventure is over eleven minutes long, making it perhaps the longest trance song in all of Hypnotic's history (sans Audio Science's work). And it goes through numerous movements and tonal transitions too, as if its some long lost Blue Amazon work. Just, y'know, not quite as good in the production and songcraft.

There's housier chuggers (Skydiving Baboons, Wake Up Fall), tech-housey shufflers (the titular cut), spacey acid stompers (Hot Pants), proper trance business (Whhhaaauu ...cripes, what awful names), and even a twelve-plus minute live outing of Wake Up Fall (twice as long as the album version already on the CD). A nice amount of variety then, with nifty little hooks, rhythms, and melodies that do a decent job of getting my trance-endorphins flaring up. Again, no where near as good as whatever Sasha and Diggers would rinse out (not even Oakenfold, really), but on the late '90s Hypnotic scale, remarkably superb stuff for a hopelessly obscure release!

Various - Beyond The Machines

Infonet: 1993

Looking at this CD sure brings back memories. Oh, not for any particular sentimental attachment to the compilation itself. In fact, I only recently came across this, during my last and final splurge on Bandulu material. Nay, what triggers the ol' nostalgia endorphins with Beyond The Machines is remembering how enamoured I'd get with such mysterious items like this.

The cover art some strange blend of manga and pulp comics. The track list consisting of such bizarre, unconventional names like Syzygy, Sulphuric, and Thunderground. Even the title hinted at music taking things to a totally different level of electronics, beyond whatever the original Detroit future-fetishists had in mind (to say nothing of the bouncy, poppy euro-dance that was the limit of my knowledge back when). Given the opportunity, Beyond The Machines could have been one of the seminal releases in Teenage Sykonee's developing interests and tastes, opening a whole unforeseen world of sonic possibilities. More realistically though, it'd probably get stacked along such compilations like Tone Tales From Tomorrow Too and The Sound Of Zero And One, techno collections just a tad too off the beaten path for me to 'get' as a dewy-eyed teenager.

Many years older now, and with a vast database of neigh-limitless knowledge at my fingertips, Beyond The Machines is a mysterious item no more. I know who Bandulu is. I know who Syzygy is (and truthfully, one of the main reasons I sprung for this along with the additional Bandulu material). I even know what Infonet is, and that this compilation was a showcase for the label's budding artists. Erm, not many of them stuck around longer than this CD, while one of them had already been making a name for himself in Detroit before (Eddie Fowlkes, who's I Wanna Know is definitely on that 'Detroit guys wanting to make Chicago deep house' tip). Subterfuge's Liquid Poetry reminds me of those way-early attempts at trance you'd hear out of non-Frankfurt regions of the deustchland, while Rev 1's Chochillics and Sulphuric's Better Come Together offer up the acid business.

Really though, Beyond The Machines is mostly about Bandulu and their various side-projects (Thunderground, Koh-Tao). Even the Syzygy track, Meditation, is rather Bandulu-ish, with its loopy nature and all, though quite trancey and mellow compared to the proper techno workouts the Bandulu-proper cuts offer. The opener Thunderground cut, Illegal Rush, inches closer to the domain of trance as well, while the track Amaranth could almost be a New Beat tune, what with its sampling of the synth arp from My Mine's Hypnotic Tango. Not so sure about those tinny trumpets though. As for the Koh-Tao cut, bluesy country-twang in dub is the last thing I'd have expected to hear, but here we are.

The dated quality of these tracks unfortunately does overwhelm much of Beyond The Machines, which leaves the CD more a curioso or completist item of interest. Bandulu did have a unique sound, but it's better highlighted on their albums than here.