Stewart Walker – Live Extracts

Not into this release overall, but "Cover-Band Fantasy" is something special.

Stewart Walker is one of the more intersting North American techno fellows operating at the moment. I was first turned onto him via Stabilies, and was fascinated with how he created so much depth with such sharp sounds. This recording is a series of live recordings sequenced together into one continuous mix. It's a very dancable (or drivable, or listenable) record and it's principle strength lies in it's sound choices, and how they are put together. It makes me think of the well organized grooves of Jorg Berger and his ilk, but Walker, although working in the well establish confines of minimal type techno, still comes off sounding very fresh.

Given that there is much material in this style that is reasonably forgettable, it is always worth mentioning the artists who stand away from the pack. This release, Walker, and his great output on Persona are all such material. This is one of those nice kinds of albums where if it starts to repeat again from the beginning, you could just go on listening to the whole album again and it doesn't get boring at all.