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Buyer Rating: 100.0% positive (38 ratings)

Richie Hawtin - Decks, EFX & 909 - 14-Jun-08 11:56 AM
While I agree with Maroko: That segment is just sheer brutal brilliance in full effect, there is no way he did that live.

This is a guy who is definitely a studio head, and Hawtin excels there - No doubt - But his live performances are often lacklustre, and pale in comparison to what he pulled out of the bag with this mix.

His live Decks, EFX, and 909 performances never came anywhere near his nigh on biblical judgements on the album. Yeh, they were good and they made me dance,

But you can't tell tell me he did that album live - Euh, euh I don't belive.

Doesn't stop it from being awesome though...Even though he's got a right twattish hair style (blood Sven Vath).

Battles - EP C / B EP - 27-Dec-06 09:52 AM
If I had heard anything that had been done like this (a thousand times before...), then I'm pretty damn certain I wouldn't have had the 'am I really listening to this or is this a major acid flashback that I WANT to keep on going?'.
Compared to Warp's other band orientated releases of recent years, licensing Battles' two EPs was one helluva stroke of genius. Lovely minimalesque packaging too, but hey who gives a toss about what the case looks like because the real beauty, nay, the real magick lays encoded on those two shiny discs. And once one of those spell-ridden 5 inches of crystal are spinning in your CD player, then you are transported to an audio world of electronic abstraction, polyrhythms that would make Steve Reich perk up and an overall sense of composition that is so whole, complete and accomplished that you start to question if the creators of this heady aural potion are mere human beings like you and I; or if they may actually be pan-dimensional beings on a mission to transform the way we listen to this little thing called music.
I have listened to these EPs so many times now that they are imbedded on my squidgy cerebrum like sonic fossils. The layers of rhythm achieved by these guys on guitars is equivalent to a troupe of Kodo drummers, but where the drummers use their two arms to bang out a rhythm Battles utilise their ten liitle digits to twitch and pluck out noises that make your neck hairs reach for the stars. And then there is John Stanier with his improbably tall cymbal and paradoxically angelic/demonic approach to percussion that glues the electronic wash and guitar serialsim with spurts of rapid quick fire hits and solid ground trembling beats.
Indie noodling? Heard it all before? I should be so lucky.

Warlock (3) - Just A Face In The Street - 30-Nov-06 10:21 PM
It' all about 'Cellar Door' on this release as Warlock goes all out - dubstep style. Utilising his trademark ragged percussion albeit in a more minimal manner, Warlock then unleashes his secret weapon, a sub-humming bassline that threatens the listeners cardiac rate. It's a simple track and probably won't end up in the dubstep hall of fame, but I think that's part of the overall appeal.

Planet Mu - 01-Nov-06 03:23 PM
I think it's quite interesting how Planet Mu has appropriated dubstep as its new protege of sorts. Whereas Mu's contemporary Rephlex packaged up the sound in its 'Grime' compilations, and Warp dipped its toe in with Something J & DJ Maxximus' 'Mercedes Bentley Vs. Versaci Armani' - Planet Mu has gone all out of late.
Hawerchuck's first ep 'Camel Toe/Caned Peas' in 2004 appears to be the starting point of Mu's daliance with dub/grime sub sonics, albeit in an experimental manner. But since that time they have added act upon act to their rosta of dubaholics.
Now we get to experience the bass weight sonics of some of dubsteps heaviset hitters: Distance, Pinch, Benga, Mark One (Mu's first major dubstep signing, along with his Virus Syndicate project),Vex'd and even Loefah and Skream who provide remixes for Pinch's sub aqueous wobbler 'Punisher'.
Alongside these maestros we also bear witness to those producers who use dubstep as an influence upon their musical output such as: Boxcutter - Squarepusher style skitteriness meets dubstep, Milanese - glitchy-breakwhore- dubwise-grime and Neil Landstrumm - wobbly fuct-techno uberlord meets electrostep (interestingly enough Landstrumm has already had his ear to the sublow ground as can be heard on his own Scandanavia imprint release 'The Life Of Grime EP').
I think it's great that one of the most respected electronic music labels in existence is pushing this 'sound' forward. I suppose it is yet another example of Mike Paradinas' label being at the cutting edge of high quality electronic(a) experimentation.
They might not have been there at dubstep's infancy, but they are making a hell of an effort to be there for its formative years.

Venetian Snares - Moonglow / This Bitter Earth - 31-Oct-06 06:58 AM
Since I bought this 7" when it was first released, I think I've listened to 'Moonglow' a couple of times because 'This Bitter Earth' completely overshadows it.
For me 'This Bitter Earth' is the pinnacle of Aaron Funk's output as a prolific recording artist. Nothing previous to this release, or after for that matter, has come close to the perfection of this audio sculpture.
Drenched in emotion, this track is as restrained as anything Snares has released. Clipped snares and jazzy horns, Danny Elfman, Nina Simone and his unique programming make this a hugely enjoyable listening experience every single time I listen to it.
It's really a standout moment in his musical history. I can't compare it with anything else that Funk has produced because it's as though he was in a completely 'other' frame of mind when he made it. Every element used to create this heady brew can stand alone by itself, but when realised as a whole it really does verge on what I would call musical perfection.

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