Various - All Tomorrow's Parties 3.0

md, Feb 07, 2005

This release could be described as the "Original Sound Track" to one of the most mind shattering and life changing experiences Ive yet had. Like the other ATP compilations it features tracks from artists who performed at an All Tomorrows Parties event - in this case the third ATP event in the UK, which took place during April 2003 with Autechre acting as curator. That weekend, co-ordinated so brilliantly by Autechre, was like the musical equivalent of being "born again" for me - when I realised that a lot of the electronic music Id already been listening to for well over a decade did in fact belong in a club/rave environment and not just in the living room. It might not all be bang-bang techno, but it doesnt matter - when it works, it works very well, and Im forever grateful to Autechre for choosing a line-up and arranging the event in a way that showed me the light in this way. Id never have thought that my ideas about the presentation of electronic music could have been so effectively shaken up after following it for so long.

The compilation itself has various styles to it, as did the festival. The experimental guitar based noise of Earth overlaps with NYC hip-hop from Kool Keith and the Masters Of Illusion, alongside funky Detroit techno from Shake, a taste of the UK from Stasis, Broom and Ford and a track from Autechre themselves that skips along strangely. The CD version contains extra tracks that broaden the picture somewhat, but fortunately the best of them all, Push Button Objects "ATP Track" appears on this format too. I suppose, given the title of the track, that it was intended purely for the festival. Such a sweet sounding track, it gets my eyes watering every time, not least because of the memories it evokes, but also because of the amazing little melody that drops a couple of times throughout the piece.

As a release its a decent enough package, although it could never convey the impact that the festival had on my friends and I. The D-side tracks are not really my thing, but overall the quality is high.

Was the above review useful to you? Yes  No  (report)