Record Reviews - updated 30th June, 1998
Theorem - Drift 12" (Theorem)
Drift
And he's not wrong! A quite inactive track at first listen, this gently lilts along on a wave of soothing wooshes. It might not build much, but it's definitely a high rise…
Mnml
A jumpy ¾ little number, spacious and airy again, just like all 3 tracks on this twelve.
Ring
Gentle bass and string combine, as soft metallic percussion clangs out in dampened hits, like sounds heard across desolate oceans. This is the most 'happening' track on this release, but still it retains the feel of a sparse and wonderful landscape. The long outro recedes like an horizon lost plane.
9/10
DJ Valium – (Drought)
Summer of the Cat
This has an old timer repetitive grooved bass line, rattly backstreet drums and an assortment of whizzes and pings flying around. A more twisted synth sound develops gradually. Simple ideas that work solidly in the mix. Oh, and there's a cat sound at the end!
Thunder and Lightning
Muffled breaks and flamming ion-tube stabs start this track out. The sounds have the feel of being submerged beneath waves, in contradiciton of the title.
Circus of Pulses
Tuned percussion bends up and down, almost stalling to a stop at it's low points. Flam in effect!
Lost in Teknotikaland
More maddening and frantic than the others tracks, though it's the most straight forwards dance floor wise. Again, nice grinding halts and crunches.
Keeping consistent with what I have heard on this label (warped trax), this release slightly has the edge over the Jay Denham release (and the Stephen Brown one which I didn't rate – too drummy and not a lot else)
7/10
Human – Island Life (Human)
A1
This is an epically sweet (very long) and eighties riddle feel to it. The overall effect is somewhat melancholic – layers of sweeping strings combine with the very dated sounding drum program, whilst an interweaving bassline adds yet more softness. Very sugar-coated I would say. Still, lovely!
B1
Like a bad seventies sword and sorcery soundtrack, but somehow evocative and powerful (that's if I'm playing it at the right speed!). Very much a mood track, very original and slightly over the top.
B2
Sounds like a paean to early Mike Oldfield – all tinkling bells and beat vibes, if you know what I mean…
8/10
Cari Lekebusch & Alexi Delano – Jimmy's Techniq (Jericho)
Hold Watcha Got
A solid kick drives along with a minimal bassline for a buddy. A vocal sample shouts in occasional exhortation, giving the track it's title. The synth lines here are rich, crafted smoothly over the beats. All in all a quality prime time groove track.
Take It Twice
The beats pound once more, though there is a greater spaciousness in the rhythms than the a-side. A building synth drone rises through the layers of the mix, before pitching around to provide the track's distinctive melody hook.
Jamaica Center
An almost 'Lyot' sounding synth line provides the tune end of this dubby beauty. A chanted voice, swathed in reverb like most else gives the track that cool breeze edge.
This is my only my second exposure to Alexi Delano (after the other joint collab with Cari, similar, with funky warbles here and there), so can't really say how it compares, but it's another quality outing for Mr Lekebusch. It's becoming a cliché to say this of his stuff, but this is hard and downright funky!
9/10
John Tejada – Disruption (A13)
Disruption
This is the most typically solid dance track of the 3 cuts here. A simple one note bassline, a chattering of hats, a chiming stabbing synth chord… this rings out over a rattling low synth, giving an effect not unlike marbles rattling uneasily in a jar!
Nexus in Control
The melody is more to the fore here. Sub-ish bass and a sparse conga percussion pattern repeat as eq'd synth swathes pan around. Another string line shows up before those high twittering synth pulses that I love so dearly play joyfully (prime example being Aztec Mystic on UR), but for too short a while unfortunately.
Pasadena Shuffle
A rocking low bass throb combines groovily with on/off snare bursts and additional scattered hits. One for those nose-hair vibrations. An unexpected string cuts in as the beat stops, and as it kicks off again the combination takes the feeling just that little bit deeper, with pitched bleeps thrown around to warm effect. Groovesome!
8/10
Plastikman - Consumed lp
It's all very adequate, but adequate isn't enough when you're talking about someone with Richie Hawtin's past output. You have the feeling of a Robocop film… all good fx, and sleekness, but little rawness or challenge in it, no twists, all smooth.
The first two tracks, 'Contain' and 'In-Side' never reach out anywhere. One not string lines add nothing to an already plain sound. 'Locomotion' is better for it's suggestion of a bouncier rhythm, but again it never really travels anywhere. 'Cor Ten' improves things though, all subs and throbs and ominous subterrain tones. Reminiscent of an out-take from Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' almost!
'Convulse (sic)' gives a short spacey interlude to bring in 'Ekko', which again just pulses somewhere in the middle ground, never gut-churningly bassy or wickedly catchy.
'Consume' is subdued punk reggae electronica, with far out flanging echoes pushing out the tones. The much used one-note acid pulse around the beat of Hawtin's appears again here, and slow mournful strings also are nothing new at all when they come in later, so the track seems to get left in the starting blocks again.
'Consumed' is the album closer and for me the highlight. It harkens back to the album's first two tracks, but is deeper and denser, more multi-layered, though again strings seem used unnecessarily.
I haven't heard the 'Concept' series yet, but if this form of minimalism is anything to go by, I'm not missing out on much. Too many other artists are executing similar sounds much better and with deeper results (Basic Channel and Chain Reaction being obvious examples, but also DIN, Metrojuice and Playhouse here and there). This is just set on auto-pilot
5/10
Metric System - Studio 440
A Side
A shifting and vibrating shake chatters over a dubby bass hit, replacing any obvious bass drum on the beat. The sound is raw and fried, with interesting one bar drops that really let the sounds rush forward to swell momentarily. The dub feel is gradually heightened as momentum gains inch by inch.
B Side
The dub agenda carries through to the b side where soft pad chords cushion the bass. The drops work well, never losing the track's pace and smooth swirl. The second track on this side has deep gated reverb fighting it out with the flange, while soft repeated pads add the colour and keep the waves turning over, like on a cool night time beach.
I'm not sure who the artist is here, but this is unlike any other Trope release I've heard, with no recourse to the little acid box of tricks. Out there and beyond!
9/10
Octave One/ UR - Day Star Rising/ Aztlan
Day Star Rising
In typically minimal tribal form, Day Star is equiped with that unique brand of Octave One chord flavour. The drums are slightly metallic. Stabs and sweeps join sweetly, taking charge over the beats. With a few drops and builds, the track is noticeable by an absence of bass line, but it is none the worse for the lack of it, or so I think sometimes…
Aztlan
A joining of Mike Banks and DJ Rolando's heads apparently, this has a sweaty native feel pervading it. Simplistic bass and conga pattern lead off before a muted 'jungle' sound joins in. A string line gains in volume nicely with off beat claps before a copyright Mike Banks horn/synth stabs in to powerful effect, marking it's territory. Nice breaks and turns keep the attention and make it that much more playable from start to finish.
9/10