Vibert / Simmonds ‎– Weirs

I've been listening to this album for a few years now, just finally picked up a copy of the 2xLP. It's such an incredible piece of music. Luke Vibert's beats sound as fresh in 2008 as I'm sure they did when the album first dropped. Jeremy Simmonds' sometimes warbly, sometimes chunky synthesizer sounds are always just right. The entire album is bathed in this strange eerie overtone, and this is what makes me want to listen to it again and again.

"Tinned Teardrop" is set up as a funky dance track, but the bass and lead synths turn it into a bizarre trip into the dark side of IDM. "Path T'Zoar" is a slowly crawling epic house track that takes you from planet A to planet B, and by the end I don't remember exactly how it happened. "Reservoir" is another long and spiraling journey, only completely devoid of a drum track (though I wouldn't call it 'ambient', either). Probably my favorite track, "Thing Bounces Back" is a groovy tune with loping synths and lots of blips and beeps along the way. The mismatched timing between the bass, lead, and drums is really what makes it an interesting 12 minutes.

Overal "Weirs" is nothing short of classic '90s electro. 5/5!

I bought Weirs the week it came out. It was a great record then and it still maintains its freshness now. I think most of the strangness and creepy bits were the work of Jeremy Simmonds though, rather than Luke Vibert.

As is the case with most other debuts on Rephlex (Muziq's Tango 'n Vectif for example), Weirs is probably the best release from Luke Vibert. Coincidentally Weirs was released the same week Drexiya 3, I played the record in its entirety in a chillout room at a rave in Toronto.

This release is one of those unheard-of yet very very innovative gems hiding in the shadows of obscurity, and that is a Class A FELONY! This just so happens to be one of the most singularly freakishly whacked collections of electronic experimentalism ever made. The beats are among the best ever committed to vinyl and very unique in their structure. These ain't the usual hip-hop and techno house beats, Mildred. Vibert proves the fact that before embracing electronic music, he was first a drummer, and one of unusual rhythmic aptitude. You have to hear it to know what I mean. Being a fan of analog synth manipulation, I also really tend to like the flights of fancy they take you on with tweaking those little knobs and buttons those old analog synths offered. This was a huge surprise to me when I first heard it roughly a year ago, and really wished I'd had heard it ten years earlier when it was first put out! Definitely a jewel in my collection, it must be heard! CHECK IT OUT all you analog synth (and electro-beat) fans. I LOVE IT!