This report contains lots of cool info on things going on both underground and elsewhere that have somethin' to do with electronic music........ all kinds! The Top Technotic Tunes Chart and Three monthly playlists with reviews are included, and are compiled from vinyl and CDs played on 'These Technotic Times' (a/k/a 'The TYME Project'), on WTSR 91.3fm (TCNJ) Sunday nights 9pm-12mn, Dj L3's live gigs, and RealAudio sets and programs created for Technotica/Music. Note that the radio playlists are reported on a regular basis to all applicable & appropriate print music journals. The music is obtained via purchase and promos received. If your record isn't listed here, and you think it should be, well, you could send it to us! If I like it & think it's got some legs, then I'll take it for a stroll and park a note about it in the next issue!
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GREETINGS AND HOW-DEE-DO TO Y'ALL OUT THERE
IN MUSIC-LAND!
Here it is, another 'fabu' edition of 'The Technotic Times'! First
off, I'd like to welcome all the new readers out there! Support has been
really wonderful for this e-zine from both people who receive it via the
Internet, and those who read it on-line! Remember, if you don't see the
style or type of electronic music you are involved in in this issue (such
as Trance, Hardcore, etc), be sure to peruse the catalog of past issues
of 'The Technotic Times' online at http://www.technotica.com, because we
focus on different aspects of the scene in each issue.
It's been so very hectic the past several months, what with so many wonderful new releases to check out, and the fact that I've been playing out at a wide variety of parties -- from an experimental Trip-Hop fusion thing, to a straight-up banging techno-purist's night, to a coupla hardcore gigs, to an all out hippy-freak-out where I got to play lots of manic, fun, innovative acid, house and techno!
The media continues to keep a watchful, if slightly jaundiced, eye on the rave scene, and ABC's 20/20 did a re-broadcast of an 'investigative report' they had aired about a year ago, and boy, lemme tell ya, that really got a whole lot of people riled up and ticked off. Of course you know that the media needs to find the thing that'll get the most attention, and of course they found a coupla idiotic n-brainers to tabulate their questionable intelligence........no mention of the music though. What a shame. In a time when alcohol consumption by teens is being strongly fought against, in a world that feels like it's up-side down and inside-out, the power of music can be a strong force in helping young people of every stripe and social strata to gather together peacefully, discover something in common and to strengthen the human bond....through dance.
MINIMAL MOVEMENT & OTHER
TRENDS
The evolution of Techno music continues to wind itself around the
world, gettin stuck in the teeth of just about everyone that encounters
it on their plate......The interest and loyalty to the 'Detroit Sound'
continues strongly, with additional heapings of tribally influences. There's
a wide-spread, hugely renewed interest is in the Minimal sound! The demand
for it has been rising sharply...and Basic Channel and its offshoots are
enjoying a renewed popularity, with peeps re-discovering that, sometimes,
less is more: Repetitive beats and textures pared down and distilled to
their very essence; Manipulated sounds and rhythms that creep into your
soul and hypnotise, making that all-important trancing state achievable
through the formation of shapes in space and time; Not having to concentrate
on words or a song, no real patterns of build-ups and breakdowns, just
pure flowing pulses of sounds with repetitive elements to hang onto and
pull you through.
More and more experimentalism is evident in tracks, with artists experimenting with the fusion of commercial and underground sounds in an effort to reach further.… And, when a genre evolves to the point where a certain kinds of bass-sound, certain kinds of breaks, and a specific tempo are considered 'required' by DJ's and dancers; invention and evolution must take place both within and against those constraints. The resulting friction creates sparks that shine as bright as any star in the sky...
However, some say that, constraints are a strength, not a liability…that at the very least, these parameters are no less likely to produce strikingly listenable and intensity-productive results than the total absence of constraints. Perhaps it's true that extremism can be as fruitless as any musical stance, and simply embarking on a project with an 'experimental' mindset does not guarantee stellar, or even interesting results. Balance, as it ever was, is a fundamental key to consistent creativity.
LOOK WHAT THEY'VE DONE
TO YOUR SOUND
One of the great beauties of electronic music composition is the
range, depth and variety that can be produced and recorded......for example,
if you take just about any 'typical' mainstream dance-floor song, it'll
basically sound the same in different situations, no matter where or what
kind of system you're listening to it on....but take, for instance, a Plaid,
Weatherall, Jeff Mills, or Chain Reaction rekkid and listen to it on the
radio, in yer home, at a small bar/lounge, in a club, and then in a massive
warehouse...........Wow!!!! Is that really the same song??? Do you recognize
it??? Maybe not!!! And, if you do, you are amazed at the layers of complexity
and previously unrecognized permutations that will be revealed.... In the
fifties, the sonic range of pop music was tailored to the limitations of
lo-fi radio. That changed through the auspices of a certain seminal producer.....does
UG Techno owe a legacy debt of gratitude to Phil Specter's Wall of Sound
approach to music-making?
THE EVOLUTION OF DJ CULTURE
The DJ as artist is becoming a more accepted concept in general.
The first barrier that came down was the Rave/Underground Dj vs the Club
Dj. The common 'wisdom' for many years was that a club Dj who played for
a crowd of basically bar patrons over the course of a night simply couldn't
adjust to the more compressed 1-2 hour slot provided for Djs to work their
magic to entrance and move the crowd at an underground event. And, on the
flip-side, it was held that Djs who were well known on the rave circuit
for their banging sets couldn't translate that to the extended ambience
of a club.
But, as clubs have become more conscious of how a higher, more concentrated quality of musical excitement can draw larger crowds, and as more clubs have begun to operate several rooms of entertainment, it is now a common practice to have 2 or 3 Dj's play in the same room on 1 night, and/or have many different styles represented in the rooms. This has opened some doors for the underground Dj, and as they have become acquainted with the Club Djs, some of those club-based spinsters have found a happy freedom playing at 'raves' and such......Rob & I still remember Danny Tenaglia's first Rave appearance, at an Essence party in NYC...he brought the house to it's dancing feet with his tribally hard house set at 6 in the am!
POLYRYTHYMS
2 things that I've been pretty adamant about since I've been spinning
out are to not totally pre-plan my set in order to allow for spontaneity,
and to insist on being able to spin a variety of styles at different events,
exploring many different facets of electronic music and presenting it in
an artistic way. In the past, the latter has not usually been an advantage
in getting bookings, but lately, more and more Dj's are being lauded for
their ability to switch gears......The past 2 months have finally seen
some fruition of my efforts to aviod being 'pigeon-holed' cause I've done
a lounge night, a hardcore party, a techno set and, of course, the weekly
radio program where I play it all from Ambient to Experimental, Funk and
Jazzy to Hardcore............The kinds of sounds I'm mostly enjoying mixing
up and all are very cool and out there Lounge and Trip Hop grooves, deep
Breakbeats with D&B flavor (this includes the Jungly tip) and Electro,
Experimental & Ambient beats, and, o'course, Techno -- the techno I
like ranges from minimal to intelligent and tech-house - I love the beautiful
stuff as well as the tweaky hard variety, and feel it's good to mix 'em
up!...I also like Hard House..........Being from, and living near Philly,
it's almost impossible to escape the house sound, and if yer gonna play
in this town you better be able to throw down the funky groove! :)
One of my trademarks is finding rekkids with a sense of humor in them, and presenting them in an interesting way, so as to tell a story. I love being versatile and playing to my audience, giving them things they like, and things they will like when they hear them....It's both a very hard and very rewarding discipline.
Other changes that indicate the growing acceptance of an 'artistic' approach is the sight of more and more Dj's being spontaneous in their rekkid selection while playing.....Pushin' boundaries and dancin' on the edge ('long as ya don't fall off ;-) always adds to the energy and excitement of a performance.
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RAVE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD
*******************************
I've always felt that being a raver just meant someone who got into
the feeling of being with like minded people to appreciate the music and
vibe together. 'Classic' raving was big on smiles and the sharing of candy,
hugs 'n' backrubs. And to me, the accoutrements of raving --- lightsticks,
phat pants, even the roboscans and lasers - were always an adjunct, a fun,
colorful and always appreciated element, but never the central focus of
what the rave vibe was about.
So, is Rave Culture a Myth? Or, shall it endure? Is it now only part of that nefarious ephemera that is commonly know as the 'back in the day' syndrome? The Girl Scouts sing a song "Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold." Can anyone (save the odd iconoclastic misanthrope) argue with that?
For more on my take on the state of the scene today, check out my interview for Spotlight DJ on the www.raves.com site. You can go to this direct URL -> http://www.raves.com/djdomain/htm/004_Spotdj_L3.htm
YESTERDAY ILLUMINATES TOMORROW
I've always said "Never look back". But as time goes on, I've found
it sometimes helpful, fun and interesting to do so, and yes, you can learn
from the past....re-evaluating where you were and where you are now can
help inform the decisions you make about the road ahead...To put it into
relevant terms, I still spin Gabber & Hardcore, but also play loungey
vibes in small smokey speakeasys.....growing, changing, evolving, but still
being me. Labels are for others to put on you, the artist's job is to defy
them!
Whew! Well, that was a fun romp thru some pretty cool music, eh? ;-) Yeah, Electronic music is certainly in full flower.
So, Peace and lots of warm sunny days, with gentle cool breezes, with birds on the Wing, chirping brightly, returning to newly built nests in freshly bloomed green leaves of trees that are newly sprung to life.
-Linda Leigh/L3
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FuN STuFF
Sometimes it's refreshing to hear about other kinds of dance music
scenes.
Check out this link - http://www.brighton.co.uk/listings/leroc/
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
**********
Happenings
**********
DJ WORLD '98:
April 9, 10 & 11, 1998 Waterloo Inn, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
30,000 Square Feet of Exhibits We're inviting DJs and Club Owners from
all over Canada and the USA. New Sound and Lighting Exhibits and Demos
From Around the World, Music Suppliers, Computers & Software, Props,
Novelties and More Seminars, Product Demos, Networking, Competitions &
PARTIES For More Info Email: DJW98@CanAmSegue.com
NEW DANCE MUSIC CATEGORY AT THE IVOR NOVELLO AWARDS:
For over 40 years, the prestigious Ivor Novello Awards, presented
by the Basca Music Council, has honored the highest achievements of the
music world. At this year's awards, to be held May 28th, a new award for
Best Dance Song will be given for the first time, joining the existing
best song and best contemporary song popular music categories. The organizers
are actively seeking suitable nominees for the new dance music award, which
are judged solely on artistic achievement, rather than sales or other business-related
measures. "We have quite odd things winning the awards," notes Gary Osborne,
a member of the Basca Council. "It's not necessarily about whoever sold
the most." Why add a dance music award now? "We felt it was time to acknowledge
what an important part of the music scene dance music has become. It's
also something that we're very good at in the UK. To go on ignoring it
would be wrong," says Osborne. If you'd like to enter a a song for award
consideration, send it to: Dance Song Nominees, Ivor Novello Awards, Basca,
The Penthouse, 4 Brook St, London W1Y 1AA
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
CHARTS & REVIEWS, The Technotic way!
TOPS OF
THE PLAY PLAYLIST FEBUARY/MARCH 2, 98 ***************************************************************
1. CHRISTIAN MORGENSTERN - MISCELLANEOUS *2X12* - KANZLERAMT
2. VEGAS SOUL - PURE - BELLBOY
3. MEGANE - AMPHITRION - LOC RECORD
4. GREEDY ALLSTARS VOL 1 - V/A - GREEDY RECORDS
5. TOBIAS SCHMIDT - THE BLACK ARTS EP - TRESOR
6. JOEL MULL - LEAVING GROUND – LASK
7. HAFFA COMBINO - KORBENT EP (PINK) - PRIMATE COLLECTORS
8. SEROTONIN'S REVENGE - v/a – SEROTONIN
9. HEARNOW - ORDINARY PEOPLE – HARVEST
10. BENEATH THE SURFACE - S/T - SHEER RECORDS
11. ANDREAS KRAEMER vs TORSTEN KISSLER - ACROB@TIC - CONSTRUCT RHYTHM
12. MONT CENIS TRAXX - BOULDER DASH – JACKPOT
13. RICHARD THOMAS - SOMETHING WITH MILK IN - LO RECORDINGS
14. BABY MAMMOTH - SOUND IN YOUR MOUTH – PORK
15. THOMAS CHROME - VOLUME 3 *BURN – LOOP
16. KLARK TEKNIK - SHOOT BY DRIVE - GOLD PLATE MUSIC
17. V/A - BEING BOLSHI #1 - BOLSHI
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The
‘world famous’ reviews and ratings lists
*******************************************
Top Technotic Tunage for Febuary-March 2, 1988
Key:
6 - rarified & essential
5 - great to have and hear
4 - good tune
3 - some value
2 - you never know
1 - no way, no how (actually, these don't even make it onto the
list)
********************
TOP TECHNO TUNES
********************
t60 THE GENIE - FLUX EP - INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH...
Woo Hoo Hoo !!!!!!! Now These are some most excellent hardcore techno
trax that are acidic and have real involving energy. Woo Hoo for Industrial
Strength, showin off their Genie's magic! There's 4 slices of big bold
'n bangin beats flavored with dollops of acid and atmosphere and, Mutant
Animals!!
t58 MEGANE - AMPHITRION - LOC RECORDS...
Technotic journey 'Amphitrion' is a deep dancer trancer with talking
rhythms and a hoppity poppity whoosh 'n flanged Bass and some old-school
techno elements. 'Les Boum Boum Symphatiques' is a bangin twirlin clapin
metallic stormin de rave track with big 1234 beats and lots of layers and
running percussion that turns it out ala Basic Channel. 'Aphadeles' has
got hollow bongos 'n drums and echoing flying hits all jumbled and dancing
with organ sweeps, poppity poppins, and a cute high farty horn winding
around this full sounding electro-ish trippy mover.
t57 TOBIAS SCHMIDT - BACKGROUND VIOLENCE EP - DROUGHT...
What a guy! What a weird rekkid! Woo!!! Tweaky minimalism with 'Self
Defence' beats 1234, and gets loud 'n clanky, it talks! 'Ivory' is weird
weird beaty deep experimental cool stuff with mutant keyboards and synths.
On the A side, 'Displacement' has moderate paced beaty beats and percussion
with Sick organ-like rep sounds that strum yer brain, What is it saying?!?!
'Visa' is mad, bassy hard crazed electro that's really excellent!
t57 THOMAS CHROME - VOLUME 3 *BURN - LOOP...
The third installment in this popular burning 'series'. Check out
'Dead Dj's Don't Dance Doom Disco' for a moving drama with clear sharp
kinda elastic 4x4 beats, steady hi hats, clap-offs, talkin percussion and
a dancin energy. "Groovy Scissors' is housey, percussive, steppin with
horney bass pulses and an odd vox, 'Zoonked Superhero' does the tic-toc
thing with a huge sound bangin 'n step 'n snappin with those harsh organ
twirler pulses. 'Broken Dish' gets kinda housey with sharply percussive
bouncy 1234 beats that hurt, toms on top and scrapings with a deep male
vox and a neat change-up near the end.
t57 SURGEON - BASICTONAL REMAKE - TRESOR...
2 of the 4 cuts are monsters! '(Intro)Version II' is really intense
banging, whooshing and scraping like mutant violins, 'Waiting(Nick Harris
Remake)' has huge bass with slow trip-hop, twinkling bells, and strange
percussive washes that are very weird, spacey and tripped out.
t56 TOBIAS SCHMIDT - THE BLACK ARTS EP - TRESOR...
Excellent mental techno! 'Cosmetic Pollution' is some mental mellow
madness with Very deep bass and sharp snappin 'n steppin beats and a housey
funk feelin that rings the bell. 'Tobacco Choke' is a traffic jam of snappy
surrealism with full layers of sound driving 'n twirling bangin beep beep
big and clear beats, a fast piano and some nasty ducks, Ow! 'Fur' is deep
gurbley darkish and beaty, with a weirdly talking singing saw flutey thing
knacking at'cha, the alarm rings, but the nightmare continues :) 'Instrument
of Torture' is deeply beaty and chompy with harsh organ and bell ringing
washes and trippy winding spacers.
t56 MANDARIN VS WHITE LAMA - S/T - KOBAYASHI...
Some very interesting items via France here on this baby. 'Yang'
is Huge warehouse styled rave trance with big basic channel beats that
breaks down a lot, long sweet synths, scattered percussion, horns, birds,
and owls. 'Zazen' is a slowly growing & evolving trippy hypnotic piece
that's deep fast, flippy, twirling, beating, brushing, clicking, repeating
and layering.
t56 JOEL MULL - LEAVING GROUND - LASK...
Joel is a busy fellow lately! And with quality output such as this,
I think we'll keep him chained to that mixing desk! 3 grand bands that
are big steppers with lovely accents. Good use of percussion and pulsing
tones with trippy efx and energy.
t56 HAFFA COMBINO - KORBENT EP (PINK) - PRIMATE COLLECTORS...
This one's been a staple of my sets lately...a banger! 'Korbent(version
2)' has a Huge sound with big rubber beats, topped with mental hi hats
that pulse as deep distorted percussion rages. 'Hjulbent' has harsh blowing
clear steppin beats, eerie atmospheric sounds and flippity quick trippy
percussion washes.
t55 THREE BAD BROTHERS - TOO STRONG - INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH...
Ah, shucks, they ain't so bad...just a bit of pure evil and some
twisted carnival ride atmospheric immersions combined with some smartly
snappin beats, acid, industrial mechanics and an all around wholesome wildness
that makes for some most excellent hardcore by Manu, Torgull and Le Doctor!
t55 SEROTONIN'S REVENGE - v/a - SEROTONIN...
People are diggin this stuff! Lots of neat loops for playin' around
with, and a couple of trippy freak outs. My fave cut is 'Synapse' by Selway
& Szostek, it's a long trippy electro trance journey. Also excellent
is Selway's 'Go Down' a track that's weirdly wild, a slightly electro downbeat
drummer with talkin manipulated gurbling, spacey efx and some sweet tones,
and 'B.P.M.F.s 'Infusion', a spacey, cerebral confection, with pulsing
tones and scattererd beats.
t55 IKONE - CHECK IT OUT - RELOAD...
Yes, do! The title cut is powerful & deep, bringing banging
clap backed beats that ride the percussion along with a farty sick horn,
acid blips and some strange slot machine twirlings. The flip gives you
'Cosmic Thing', a full deep mysterious weird squidgy la la la far off dark
mellow yet hectic beatings bash-a-thon with shakey percussion, and 'White
Zulu' a big tribally stepper 'n banger that squeeks along, backed by crackin
good percussion!
t55 HEARNOW - ORDINARY PEOPLE - HARVEST...
Heady 'n trippy stuff that's got enough beats for the floor, but
is cool for more experimental sets also. Frank Heiss' creative spark burns
ever brighter, and demand for his stuff continues to expand....Wow, I remember
a rainy evening at the Q Bar in NYC some time ago, when Frank and a few
friends hooked their equipment together and jammed…Guess who seemed to
be having the most fun as they built beats on the fly?! The title track
here is deep but zippy, amongst mellow down 'n up beats, you'll realize
"we're not ordinary people with ordinary lives", 'Cut & Paste' uses
a vocoder, repeating the title with umph! beats and steppin with sticks.
On the flip, 'Turn me Out' is bleepy 'n spacey with 1234 beats 'n percussion
and a cute vox, 'Do You Listen' is my fave cut, very trippy with voices
and bleepiness, a far off knocking that gets beaty amongst sonic tones
and brushy percussion that echoes long and deep.
t55 BENEATH THE SURFACE - S/T - SHEER RECORDS...
Techno dancefloor mover! This rekkid is being spotted in lots of
techno jock boxes, even a few who usually spin hardcore are like'n this
one. The A side is 2 bang 'n twirlers that have relentless ruff mettalics
and hypnotic effects, and on the B side there's a big, loud, brushy, deep
beaty train coming thru!
t54 PRIMITIVE URGES - VERT EP - PRIMATIVE...
Funky ass techno, tech house, hard house...this fits all those!
4 un-named cuts that range from a deepish housey trippy piece with sonic
filters, to a tribally layered beats 'n percussion 'n drums to-do with
eerie sound sweeps flyin in, out, around and all over. Then on the flip,
there's a whooshing ass movin bang 'n brush funker with pulsing acid, and
a hypnotic zip 'n rip with deep sounds, strumming acid and snap bangin
beats.
t54 JEROEN - SIZED/SQUARE - SEARCH...
Repetitive beats for ya...'Sized' has repetitive sticky floppity
bangin beats and far off trancing sound pulses, 'Square' has similar beats,
not as sticky, with shakey shakins and clackins that may speak to you as
it trances, and a twirling metallic piano. The flip, 'Metrical' is mellow
runnin bleepy signaling techno, complimented with percussion, with wind
whistling all thru, or, is it a cappucino maker frothing the milk? 'Plates'
is big 'n beaty, with hittin 'n stickin fast hi hats and a trippy pulsing
acidic organ and trancing twirling reps that go really deep.
t54 GAETEK - 7775-LINE EP - PRIMATE...
This most excellent label and producer get together for some deep
hard banging mental techno that does the job. The title cut is a flippity
quik 'n bouncy bang 'n run with all this drumming and some squidjin that's
kinda groovey. 'After That' is deeply trancing effort, with 1234 big beats,
and an acid guitar pluck'n drip'n with sticks and drive-bys. 'Z.A.R. Sistem'
has a deep hard bass beat with an odd vocal chirp and Ouch hitting percussive
metal rods, 'Reflex' has metallic bang & percussive organ pulsing 'n
twirling that builds and trances with a low farty horn that talks to you.
t54 ANDREAS KRAEMER vs TORSTEN KISSLER - ACROB@TIC - CONSTRUCT RHYTHM…
Big bangin layered twirlin percussive mental techno..Woo Hoo! The
title cut is a strong mover with stomping 4x4 with click clatter hits flippin
hypnotically and pulsing with excitement. On the B side, 'Neve Welten'
is a huge rushing grind 'n twirl with 1234 beaty beats clattering, growing
percussion, hitting metalics steady and a gargly flip and a thick atmosphere.
t54 ACID JUNKIES - UNSEQUENCED EXTRACTS - DJAX...
3 big choons get the treatment by 4 popular and talented artists.
Steve Rachmad gets 'Frantic' rollin in some big muddled beats, bangs, bleeps,
squeeks and fast sticks. The Trope remix of 'Zurig' by T Heckman takes
the cake!!! Woo! An acid banger with claps, big Owch twirls and long synths
that's nearly indescribably good! On the flip, Claude Young takes a shot
at gettin 'Frantic', adding lots and lots of percussive elements all layered
and trippy hypnotics along with bangin 4x4 beats and whispering voices.
F de Groodt takes aim with 'Space Frame' as sharp snappin bassy beats and
feelings get whipped into shape by staccato electro pulsing.
t54 2CB - DOODLEBUG EP - 2CB...
Weird mind twisting techno stuff that does all kinds of unpredictable
things. 2 cuts are more like tools for your set with weird manipulations
of a spacey synth (Flopperstopper), and some dark shuttered chompings (Seeking
Sanctuary). then ya gots the bangers...'Tcp' is mind f***'g minimal sh*t
with front and center banging beats and mind crunching screeching that'll
squeeze the life out of you! 'Doodlebug (Uht)' has got scary ruff sounds
and a deep eerie voice washes, that breaks out all jungly with flying twists
and efx that'll speak to you. Be careful! Let your mind drift, and you'll
be listening to that locked groove at the end for an hour!!!
t53 RED PLANET 8 - PARTICLE SHOWER/THE VOICE OF GRANDMOTHER...
Techno funk with that special hypnotic touch by The Martian. 'Particle
Shower' has growing 1234 big beats, twirling & gated big scraping organs,
while on top, bell-like tones make a slightly familiar melody for a lovely
deep mellow stepper. "The Voice..' is a deep mellow ethereal lovely groover,
kinda downbeat with a whistlin melody, ahh's, and bell tones, along with
cool pulsing horns that're spacey deep and steadily get stronger.
t53 BLUELIGHT'ISMS - INK SPOTS/SQUARES IN PARADOX - LOCAL 101...
Smooth as glass Techno-Trance on 'Ink Spots'. All the elements are
here for an enjoyable ride...a long moving track of bassy mellow beaty
twirlin and buzzin that delves deeply with some squinchy acid and hi hats.
On the flip is a stronger, more powerful vehicle, 'Squares in Paradoz,'
which has flubby flippins that race along to strong 4x4 beats as bleeps
'n twirls come alongside percussion hits, tying it all together, gaining
momentum and strength to turn you out!
t52 SUBHEAD - VOLUME 11 - SUBHEAD...
Challenging experimental tweak-core once again. 'Carwash' is excellent,
with a Crispy Bacon like feel that's scraping, running, rubbing, hitting,
and flying thru the traffik during rush hour. 'Air Guitar' is kinda funky
with deep flute pulsings, shakin 'n steppin with a far off feel. '7th Dimension'
has got foreign phrases alongside quirky experimental beats and flutey
'n farty sounds with stick hits. 'Ed Solo' is a poppity, kinda electro
number with all kinds of voices and talking.
t52 MONT CENIS TRAXX - BOULDER DASH - JACKPOT...
'Boulder Dash' is a Armani-ish banger that's very good, 'Mulvany'
has steppin 1234 beats, organ fly-bys, brushy and clattering percussion
and squeeks 'n squeels that hurt, yet it whispers hypnotically. 'Hvaldos'
is great! Harsh blowing with flippity fast beats and running percussion
that clatters deeply, 'Nordstern' is OK, with marchin military clattering
percussion and a trancy feel.
t52 HOOK RECORDINGS - 4 TRACK SAMPLER - HOOK...
This sampler is limited, but the tracks are from the album 'The
Collection Vol. 2', so you'll be able to enjoy these puppies and give them
full run of the floor! Third Man does some banging 'n moving hard trance
on 'Planet Hunters' who've got the buzz, Canyon's 'Purple Haze' is a running
clubby acid trance piece, 'Mind of Man' by DeNiro does the bizzness with
great kickin bass beats, percussion hitting, and buzzing all thru that
really builds with a dark breakdown, Ow! Liquid Art turns in 'Explorer'
with bouncy bass beats that smack the floor with building drive-bys and
some acid ala 'Higher State'.
t52 2CB - VOLUME 2 - 2CB...
More weird harsh stuff from this duo of nutters. One tool of cool
noisey beats that loop here on 'Oplo'. 'Ruprecht' gives some computer instructions
along with a stew of poppity sharp beats and hits with big bass that gets
really Wild, Yowtch! 'Baltic' is a Chicago house like choon that's goin'
big steppin with percussion and sick sounds and an interesting repeating
vocal proclaiming "I don't give a f**k" "You've got to be kidding, you
got kids". 'Lopsided' is full-on staccato, snappin, and scrapin. 'Conted'
is a steppin 1234 beaty and ruff scrapey track with pulses and brushes,
huge crackley acid drops and lots of space signals.
t51 MANGA CORPS - WAR DANCER - INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH TRANCE...
This title track is some weird beard deep shit, Man! Gothic breakbeats,
almost Aphex like, and high drama with sharp hits, bass 'n brakes, and
some heartfelt "ahhhh's" for good measure. Then, HUGE 1234 rubberized beats
on top of the breakbeats and more ahhh's that go intensly OFF 4x4! On the
flip, 'First Wave' is big stuff with pulsing space signals that flange,
zip and wash over sawing Hardcore beats. A cute yet sick farty horn leads
the mental breakdown...Bam! 'The Hunter' slowly increases in volume and
builds up steam, whooshing and shootin with filtering rubberized HC beats...Woo!
Tripped out!
t50 DEADLY BUDA - MY THEORY - DEADLY SYSTEMS...
Sonically dense jackin tunes that are mad loaded with samples! There's
the 'Housewrecker' at 140 bpm that's hell-bent on revenge with massive
beats, gurbly blurbly noise, a huge siren horn and a clangy bell... "I
may look like a girl, but I'm a cyborg" yeah, right, me too ;-> Then you
got 'My Theory' a 180 bpm burner that's absolutly manic with awesome layers
of psychosis and drama.
t49 SONS OF GUNDSO - DIRTY PART - DROP BASS NETWORK...
Billed as 'Scandanavian trance core' Yeah, that sounds good to me,
cause it's got that dramatic darkness and mysterious overtones that conjure
visions of the spirits dancing along the fjords in the land of the midnight
sun. The hardcore beats aren't too fast and there's lots of cool lazer
beams and electric shocks along with the usual acid grind 'n twirl and
a running hugeness bleeping along the drum line.
t49 CORRADO EP - DUM LIMITED...
3 deep sonic tools to play with, 2 with an electro influence, and
1 with bangin 4x4 beats and percussive scrapings that grind 'n twirl...pretty
spacey with big sounds, runs and hits.
t49 A CRASH - CHAIN REACTION EP - ELECTRIC MUSIC FOUNDATION...
Hard 'n housey german techno. I think the label is mixed-up with
the titles, though I think I've got it right. The title cut has huge beats
with sound pulsings and brashy brushings that're soon scraping yer mind
out as it speaks to you, yet, it's funky ;> 'Play that Music' stacks stomping
repetitive beats with fem vox shouts exhorting the DJ to do what else,
but "Play the music!". On B, 'LQ-400' is a wild affair with vibratin' vocal
reps that, Bam! goes off with 1234 beaty beats and screaming synths and
twirls. 'Ozone' is a farty bleepy cool down.
t48 ROXY - V/A COMPILATION 4 - KUBIN...
The tracks by Human Beings (Everblast) and Wigglefunk (Monotom City)
are OK, the one by Energizer (Violet) is Great! It rocks out, presentin'
ringin, buzzin and beepin electroey funk, with downbeat bass, a brushin
poppity groove, and a very cool vox Francaise.
t46 TRAX-X VS ATOM-X - THE DAMNED SCREAMIN' DEMON EP - RELOAD...
'Jingle Bells' sure is noisy! Big clattering drama with a slight
D&B flavor and lots of huge buzzin 'n synths 'n stuff. The other side
'Tylkar' is also noisy, with flippy layered beats, squeeks and flubby shootings.
'Kinex' is some experimental electro fun with snappin bass beats and sharp
percussion, horns, acid, and squeekin, squidgen stuff, bell tones, and
oddly stretched and strained voices.
t44 NO SAFETY PIN - NO SAFETY PIN SEX EP - DIGITAL HARDCORE...
Noise-core moshed up and tossed with expletives, *!$@!!%*&#$*!!!!
t44 DJ TRON - TORTURE TRAXX 1 - DIGITAL HUT SOUNDS...
Harsh 'n hard Noisecore, with 1 kinda obscene track that would be
a bit awkward for me to play out, since I'm a gurl, but I do gotta admit,
it's pretty funny in a 'mature' kind of way. I liked the first few releases
on this label better than this one, but there is some great stuff here
to cut and paste with, and 1 really great track with a rock & roll
guitar and some mad gurbly dark sounds =:-O
************************
HEAVENLY HEADY STUFF
************************
h58 RICHARD THOMAS - SOMETHING WITH MILK IN - LO RECORDINGS...
Woah, I could write an essay about this one! 8 pieces of a dream,
some stand alone, others are wonderful mixing tools. On 'Return To Pow-7'
you better watch out, cause that child is chasing the jazz-man, leadin
him on with his magic flute as you enter the joint with some downbeat chillins,
in a haze of stuff that makes yer head spin. 'Mongo Step' is a disorienting
blend of D&B, jazz and a child's singing, there's some deep forest
ambience with far off flutes and waterfalls, where the trumpet sounds in
'Islamic Tartan', and a rockin jazz fusion thang erupts from 'Spray Mountain'.
The flip gives ya some 'Ordure Rechauffe,' as a repetitive melange of sounds
emerges, woven in an experimental tumbler of beats, bass, horn and a child's
vox reps, with percussion hitting and a piano squeekin. 'Cheerio' is aptly
named, with beaty beatings, pulsing synth keys, horns, off time things
coming at you, brakes squeaking, and a wash of ensuing static…it's like
trying to smile when things about you are a just a tiny bit unsettling….
h55 DALE LAWRENCE - THEOREM - PLUS 8...
Deep pulsating ambience and ambient beats. 'Mantra One' has bloopy
bass, far off clear 'n shaky percussion and key-tones, 'Os' has deep ringing
tones layered with soft pads bippity boppin, 'Clone' is a blunted knocking
beats 'n sharp sticks step 'n slurp 'n scrape number that's fulla pumping
bass and organ making patterns. 'Dos' is far off Caribean ambience, drums
roll, flip and lull you into deepness with soft buzzes, hits and washes.
h53 GLOBAL GOON - AFTERLIFE - REPHLEX...
Neat downbeat stuff from the label that knows its stuff. 6 cuts
(with 'Afterlife' also being re-mixed by Spider) of sweetly deep beats
and sounds that are fairly tame and chill, presenting multiple layers of
interest.
h52 BABY MAMMOTH - SOUND IN YOUR MOUTH - PORK...
Another tasty Pork product! These most excellent cuts are taken
from the album 'One...Two...Freak'. 3 great chill pieces here, and 1 spacey
interlude that goes into 'Skidding on all Fours', a D&B inspired deep
sweet smoother with bloopy signals and long synths. 'Sound in your Mouth'
is really cool lounge amusement, it's deep 'n beaty with this oddly cute
funky talking squid and some farty acid and winding synths. 'Luna Park'
wraps things up nicely with a kinda mysterious and deeply chill feeling
that's got faraway beats and sounds sliding amongst muted organ tones and
winding ticking.
h50 SOUL STATIC SOUND - GANGER TRILOGY...
Head Art. One side of musical exploration that starts off as ambient
echoes in space and gains energy and strength thru sonic manipulations
and flippitude.
h45 TRANQUILITY BASS - LA LA LA - ASTRALWERKS...
It is hard sometimes, he's got that right, and she sings it real
sweet! The Fatboy Slim mix works the beats here in a bassy 'n spacey way
with a slight reggae feel...oh la la la di da :)
h44 DAWN OF THE REPLICANTS - CANDLEFIRE - EAST WEST...
The Skullcrusher remix by David Holmes & Tim Goldworthy is what's
going on here...a kinda downbeat trip-hop space-rock thing that's sonic
& bassy with a cool flute and a singing male vocal. It does kinda grow
on you after a few tries.
********************
FABULOUS FUNKERS
********************
f58 GREEDY ALLSTARS VOL 1 - V/A - GREEDY RECORDS...
A big player for me! 4 tracks of wicked hard house choons that'll
make you look for more stuff from these fine folks. This is seriously fun
stuff with kool vocal samples and bangin beating acid and house! My fave
cut here is 'Hooligan's House' by DJ Orlando!
f56 STAR CITY - YOU GOT IT - AZULI...
A fun rekkid that'll probly do really well in the big clubs, cause
it's got a big sound and, yep, Goodmen drums! Tribal tinged, with long
acid wind-ups, space blips, long stringed synths and jazzy flute 'n horn
instruments along with vocal samples, "I got it"…"what you want!"
f56 DIMITRI FROM PARIS - JAZZIN IN THE HOUSE - NRK...
Fun stuff here by this popular artist from the tres' chic Paris
scene. A side is 'Dims Jazz' with 2 mixes of it, the 'Latins the House'
is supa jazzed up & out that's kinda Latin, kinda groovey, kinda steppin,
kinda "Yeah" with fab percussion, buzzin deep bass massage, male grunts,
and a crazy Rhodes organ. 'Breakdown Dub' is similar, very jazzy, fast
and hard. 'Ca Chauffe' on the B has a 'Sizzling Hot Mix' that starts with
applause, gets deeply bassy and beaty, then segues into a neat samba influenced
groovey dancer with neat piano keys and lots of vocals saying cool stuff.
The 'Cosmic Dub' is beatier and bassier, more dancey with less vox, a very
jazzy sounder with samba!
f55 LA SYNTHESIS - HARMONIC DISASEMBLY - UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE...
'Harmonic Disassembly' is the cut that's been getting the most attention.
It's poppity & bassy electro-funk, a farty 'n fun bang 'n whoosh warbler,
with lovely soaring & bell like synths, shooting signals, and a really
cool vocodered vox of "natural un-natural" reps. 'Skyline' on the flip
is a beaty mellow funky thing with soaring synth washes and staticky shaky
sounds that switch to percussive laced acidy warplings, laced with sweet
horns.
f55 KLARK TEKNIK - SHOOT BY DRIVE - GOLD PLATE MUSIC...
'Kyodai Pop' is the main cut that's pretty good tech-house for mixin'
up. Daftly beating beats step out and get rubberized while organish swipey
scrapes sway across swishy percussion, while some funky acid works the
room and the tune gets a bit deeper. 'Gift Pfeil' goes quackin along with
beat sticks, ticks flip flops, and beepin beeps. 'Microlut' is a mellow
beater, deeply funked and very bass-mental with cool cowbell accents.
f54 V/A - BEING BOLSHI #1 - BOLSHI...
Fun 'n funky flavors. Freewheelin' Franklin' - drops off a 'Rabid
Punk' full of drama and bass sweeps for a wild big breakbeat ride with
some cool scratchin, Snakebelt w/Ville Rouge does the funky acid breaks
thing with a cool echoey rap on 'One Flow', and the big prize goes to Westway
for 'Beast from the East' a supa-cool, funky downbeat chilla with fingers
snapin, piano & keyboard melodies, running echoes and windings, and
a lazy sexy horn.
f53 SOURMASH - UNRELEASED DUBS VOL 1, EPISODE ONE..SHARK (INFESTED
WATER) - S&M...
Tribally beaty tracks with dramatic feelings and voices urging,
then dancing with beaty beats and sticks, claps, some breakbeats and drivin
sound synths.
f53 CHRIS GRAY & JAMIE READ - FRAGMENTED SAMPLER VOL. 1 - FRAGMENTED...
2 teaser cuts from the forthcoming full length. Chris Gray does
'For Jazzmyn', a big. bassy, beaty and beautiful piece that's deeply funky
with some groovey acid, along with keyboards, long synths, shakey percussion
and driving claps. 'What If' by Jaime Read is a sambaesque excursion, with
reminiscent beats, clattering percussion and a far off whistle, a mellow
deep and beaty beauty with stirring synths and strings.
f52 REDBOY - CONTACT FROM THE UNDERWORLD - PUSSYFOOT...
Mixed by Howie B., these are some funky rockin and deeply spacey
downbeats and breakbeats with neat vocal samples, Dj efx and bass.
f51 PSYCHO CLASSICS - 2DJS,SLEEPY C, DAVE TRANCE - PSYCHOACTIVE...
Funky fun acid breaks. There's a horny one with a Prince melody
sample 'XxxOoo', an electroish cut that's OK, an excellent deepish one
with a cool melody and a rap about the wheels of steel, '2Djs', and a slower
'Come on' from that classic "dance with me, come on" sample.
f51 GENE FARRIS - A PLACE 4 ME - SOMA...
The title cut is a deep mellow stomper with soulful funky vibes
and talking organ washes and pulses with some vocals "here I come"…"oh
yeah". 'EW7712' and 'Pipepiper' have a Daftish influence, with the former
having steppin, chompy acid, beaty beats, long synths and a kinda swaying
feeling, deeply knocking and kinda tic toc. The latter is a strong hypnotic
cross between Jethro Tull and Daft Punk. 'Smoke Session Pause' provides
very chill loungey vibes, downbeat mellow and deep with a fem singing sample,
violins and a xylophone featured.
f50 SPACE RAIDERS - THEME FROM SPACE RAIDERS - SKINT...
More Brassic fun to shake a stick to! Moderate paced buzzin Electro-Acid
Rock. There's chants and filtering and vocoders and lots more! This is
powerfully bassy stuff with a HUGE sound that feels really good and is
tons of fun!
f50 HIEROGLYPHIX - DESTINY/RHYTHM IS BACK - LOOKING GOOD...
Chill atmospheric D&B in 2 cuts, 'Destiny' is lovely big shakey
stuff with horns, bell and organ tones. 'Rhythm is Back' is a bit faster
and harder with voices and spacey efx.
f50 AERODYNAMIX/MARS SPLIT EP - ELECTRECHORD...
2 cuts by each, with different moods... Aerodynamix does 'Spacelab',
a sharp, smooth big 'n deep electro piece with long synths, buzzin 'n poppin,
and deep deliberate bass beats. 'Moon 44' has lovely moody synths along
with sharp stabs and bass..."We are now entering the atmosphere'. Mars
does 2 chiller cuts with very interesting vocals. 'Telephone Line' is strong
and bassy with bleepins galore and a strong Kraftwerk influence. A guy
sings how he fell in love with a Japanese girl. 'Love on the Net' is faster
and sharper bassy electro, "I saw her face on the Internet, on her home
page..." !!!! ;-D
f5 FROM BEYOND VOL 3 - V/A - INTERDIMENSIONAL TRANSMISSION...
Side B here takes top honors with some amazing stuff by Spacelings
& Bassheads 'Never Trust a Coward' has a mad crazy chill atmosphere
& drama along the electro tip that then goes deeper and ruffer and
tuffer, getting totally spacey 'n bassy buzzin 'n laughing! Will Web's
'Damnation' is also awesome, dramatic & bassy electro that's got exotic
influences with a flutey horn. Layers and layers of sounds and some dark
crunchy flavoring with a touch of Kraftwerk make this a keeper!
f49 BRUBAKER - HURON/EL PASO - GYRATION...
'El Paso' is a sharp dark steppin D&B number with flanging washing
stretched acid bass farts, 'Huron' is fast, ruff 'n tuff dark steppin jungly
jive, with fast percussion and deep bass drops.
f48 GOD LIVES UNDERWATER - LIMITED EDITION SAMPLER - 1500...
'Hush That Noise' is a great trip hop instrumental piece with deeply
ruffed up acid, breakbeats, a muted horn and a wood flute. Of the other
3, the Mass Hystereo remix of 'From Your Mouth' is a pretty good funky
acidic rockin roller with the song and "Like that" vocal hits, and the
cover of Depeche Mode's 'Fly on the Windscreen' is pretty cool muted music,
all rockin 'n filtered down like.
f48 FORCE & PAUL - BREAKBEAT MUTATION - COMPOST...
Real good D&B that combines some experimental and house elements
with neat vocal samples. 'Fluid' is fast 'n shakey with excellent bass
drops. 'Tank' has a hugely deep bass and acid sweeps with fast shakey breakbeats,
shoots 'n stabs, pushes 'n pulls, and then goes off all over real good
with a humerous vox, "He bit the big one". 'Brainstormed' is a bit evil,
deep and dark sounding with big fast hits and an eerie laugh.
f48 DJ ICEE - LAND OF BOOM - TREE...
Funky breaks with acid, cool vox raps and vocalizations. 'As If'
on the flip is a moderately paced platterer with rockin acid flanged WAH-WAH
geets and encouraging vocals.
f47 PROMOTERS - #1 BULLET - SUBMARINE...
Here's a silly thing for ya, and hey, maybe you've been sampled
in it if yer one of them there players :) 3 of the 4 cuts have the samples,
there's 2 pretty cool bangin latin-samba fests, one without the samples.
The other 2 range from a funky mover with a cool melody, to acid trance.
*************************
FULL LENGTH RELEASES
*************************
CHRISTIAN MORGENSTERN - MISCELLANEOUS *2X12* - KANZLERAMT...
8 tracks of slamming techno with lots of experimental touches throughout.
No track names listed, but they're all pretty wonderful...ranging from
monsters of sound with subliminal messages, to trippy deep bleepers, to
electric crunchers, and even some funky chiller grooves and ambient beats.
A very good and useful rekkid!
TRASH - INDUSTRIALSAMPLECOREGOUCHBEAT *2X12* - MILLE PLATEAUX...
Experimental pieces to challenge yer ears by several people popular
for their 'intelligent' compositions. Lots of dark ambience, Aphex-like
harsh beatings, space signals and static, echoing percussion and human
beat boxes. Cool warped out samples play throughout, along with strange
voices and effects. Most of the cuts have some accessibility to grab on
to, while other are more experimental.
THE HORN - HORNOGRAPHY - UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE...
Quite a variety of sounds presented here on this double. Lots of
beats and quirky sounds, some experimental flavors, house leanings, electro
influences and even some funky downbeat and breakbeats. Stand out tracks
are, 'Mirage' a big beaty lightly melodic electro, ' Freaks Get Busy' with
bangin 4x4 beats, horney acid, and scraping metallics, 'Homersexual' a
stompy chicago houser with vox reps and grunts, gurbly sounds, ruff analogs
and alrms, and the best one, 'The Shield' a funky downbeat and bassy rocker
with very cool bright sound reps.
PLUG RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT - V/A 2X12 - PLUG RESEARCH...
This label is getting a Lot of attention, especially from those
whom ascribe to the IDM credo. A wide selection of excellent and challenging
cuts by several of their top acts, and it's hard to choose a fave here!
The sounds range from deep ambience, to subliminal trippy bleepy minimal
techno, to a cool funky island disco stepper, spacey manipulated beats
and tones and some rockin electronics. Check it!
VEGAS SOUL - PURE - BELLBOY...
What a gem! Lots of lovely and powerful tunes full of spacious atmospherics,
driving percussion, snappy steppers, funky movers and bright accents. Tune
in to 'Solid Light' and 'Connection' for fabulous beats and pulsing urgent
organs that really go dancing off!
DJ KRUSH & TOSHINORI - KI OKU - APOLLO...
A very cool and interesting collaboration between DJ & instrumentalist.
Hip stuff for mind stretching. Stand-out tracks are 'Toh-sui' a snappy
jazzin hipster with cool bongoes and trumpet, hey, that guy's happy, and
that thing over there is pretty cool...trippy. 'Ha-doh' is chill deep trip
hop with big muted bass drops that flub through atmospheric spacey sounds
with disembodied ahh's, scratchin, and a very hip jazz trumpet. The 'Sun
is Shining', written by Bob Marley, gets the swinging in the breeze treatment,
baby, with deep & far away ragga bass, and lovely woodwinds and horns
for an exotic full flava! Other cuts range from spacey atmospherics to
mellow breakbeat rockers.
UNIVERSAL DYNAMO - V/A - DEADLY SYSTEMS...
Yowza Wowza!!!!!!!! The Deadly One here with this powerful mix of
some of the most excellent hardcore tunes around anywhere. Joel does it
up real nice here...Yo! Glad you stuck with the hard stuff Guy!
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