Play It Loud EP
Ben Larsen’s fusion of sparse, minimal shapes and niggling 303 sounds is similar to current Poker Flat releases, but David Duriez’ ferocious, jacking Chicago mix of Moody Preachers’ ‘SP 12 Resurrection doesn’t rely on such niceties and takes Phuture’s dark, acid-soaked Windy City legacy to new extremities.
Richard Brophy, 06 May 2005
Ben Larsen’s fusion of sparse, minimal shapes and niggling 303 sounds is similar to current Poker Flat releases, but David Duriez’ ferocious, jacking Chicago mix of Moody Preachers’ ‘SP 12 Resurrection doesn’t rely on such niceties and takes Phuture’s dark, acid-soaked Windy City legacy to new extremities.
Richard Brophy
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The line-up here is practically an argument for the extinction of mankind. I mean, Keane? Even on their own they’re worse than global warming.
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Clone impresses with this split release. Orgue Electronique’s ‘On A String’ is pure Chicago hedonism, the tight, doubling up claps setting the scene for a vicious 303 bass, while Legowelt’s subtle percussive twists and moody chords import the spirit of Nu Groove to Rotterdam.
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Troy Pierce takes Chelonis Jones’s ‘Deer In The Headlights’ down an ominously dark direction. But the best remix here is Pierce, Heart Throb and Konrad Black’s version of ‘Mandarine Girl’, changing from the euphoric original into a prowling bassy affair.
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Jacek Sienkiewicz’s ‘Time Starts…’ gets the remix treatment. Etiop represents the harder, bleepier end of glitch. There’s also a broken beat remake from 3 Channels and Chilean producer Pier Bucci (pictured). He lays down orchestral strings over a moody backing. At last, it’s minimal house with a big pair of balls.
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Get a cross section of the Irish music industry to record/re-record tracks in their native tongue, thereby focusing the attention of the very group of people who hold the future of the language in their hands. It could have been awful, of course, a crass attempt to get down with the kids and make learning cool. Yet Ceol ‘06 manages to work on a number of levels.
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Manchester electro pioneer Greg Wilson lays bare the roots of much modern electronic music on ‘Re-edited’.
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I have to confess to being suspicious of charity albums, which are normally brimful of filler tracks from acts you’ve never heard of. When you’re one of the most respected writers on folk and blues though, and you decide to do something to help the Ulster Wildlife Trust you do have the advantage of being able to open a few more high class doors. Many of the tracks here are written or co-written by Harper and there are a couple George Harrison covers so there’s more of a coherence than you would ordinarily find on an album of this nature.
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Most of the tracks on ‘Norsk 3’ are the work of Norwegian producer Hans Peter Lindstrom, so this is hardly a compilation, but these niceties are irrelevant when the epic synths, over the top melodies and electronic grooves flow through the speakers and transport you to back to the golden age of Italian disco music.
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Andrea Parker’s Touchin’ Bass imprint digs deep to deliver underground electro that flirts with industrial and rave influences, but the real power behind these tracks is the bass, evident on the gut-wrenching low end frequencies on Eggfooyoung and Plaid’s contributions.
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The title’s claim might be somewhat misleading: apart from a collaboration between Kurtis Blow and Krafty Kuts on ‘Gimme The Breaks’, this mix features a succession of run of the mill, hip-hop influenced breaks from the label’s back catalogue.
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if the highlights include turgid trance and hard dance mush from the likes of Tiesto, Macro V and Ferry Corsten, we can only wonder at how god awful the club’s lowlights could have been.
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Gurgling 303s and old skool techno bleeps pulses along over that bassline on Freestyle Man’s version of the Chicago classic, ‘Washing Machine’, while the remix of ‘Pajaro’, by Summer of Love is powered by a murky low end that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Sender release.
2005-04-06 - REVIEW
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