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Buyer Rating: 100.0% positive (120 ratings)

Sven Weisemann - Xine - 30-Oct-09 04:02 PM
This is an absolutely stunning album. I cant even begin to describe it. My mind just repeats beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. This is hands down the best composed piece of electronica/ambient/downtempo Ill likely ever hear. Every track is perfect, and every note is perfect. You just sit there while the music flows over you in the simplest of waves, taking you in, in the deepest of connections. Im very lucky to own this. Thanks Sven and Mojuba!

Pom Pom - 31 - 04-Aug-09 08:10 AM
I dont know who Pom Pom is, and nor do I care to. All I desire is that he or she keeps making music like this. After coming on to Pom Pom from a Delta Funktionen mix I was surprised to realize every track is untitled, every release is vinyl only, and the only thing that distinguishes one decidedly black release from the next is the minute catalogue number etched into the run out grooves. There is something fiercely appealing about this faceless anonymity in todays world of formulaic productions and hype machine releases.

But, as you read this, you surely say, "what about the MUSIC?" Well, this music is AMAZING. It happens every few times a year that I hear something and I say this is it. Well, this is it. This collection of five tracks is perfect. If I would have to intuit Pom Poms process Id say he or she picks a clear melodic theme for each track and then just runs with it. That means slamming-minimal-micro-tech-techno with some fantastic sounds along the way. Simple, but complex. Soft, yet hard. Enveloping, and annihilating. Drop this and people wont know what hit them. And literally at that, as I dont even know what Im playing when I put this stuff on!

The long tracks are definitely the big ones and I love all of them. The first one is the most forthright, though it finds several places to break it down and get a bit funky. The next is as perfect of a driver as you can make. Chugs along towards its zenith with little fuguesque cycles along the way. If you read some of my reviews you will know this is a type I find really alluring. I believe that if you can master the consistent yet consistently shifting track you can do anything in this world of electronic music. But the track I could not be without, if it is not this one, is the third. Reflecting on my reviews, I might have been mistaken about the previous track. There is nothing I like more than the dreamy minimal techno monster---the sum of track threes parts. Soaring highs combined with a shattering low. It is remarkable.

Of the last two tracks, the fourth is really just a tool. But on the fifth Pom Pom switches gears and goes for a low tempo funky churner. This is jazz meets techno, and loving both, I adore this track. So simple, but a guaranteed magnet for the masses. All I can say is Ive been so ignorant! I always love finding stuff like this. Pom Pom is definitely one to watch, always.

Joris Voorn - Balance 014 - 20-Jun-09 07:27 PM
Joris Voorns Balance 014, while of the same flavour as Hawtins earlier DE9 mixes, is a completely new species. I think what is important to realize here is the extremely high quality of Voorns composition for todays world, and this is in no way a slight against Hawtins work—some of my all time favourite. Every new mix that uses the "build up from loops of existing tracks" formula seems to take a step forward. But with Balance 014, perhaps we have reached the zenith.

What really amazes me is the first mix, Mizuiro. I think my girlfriend described it best when said, "Just when you think youve reached the best part, you find another that is even better." There are several highlights, but for me things get extremely interesting (okay, well this happens a lot in the mix, lets say the most interesting) when you hear the once tired vocal track from Ambivalents "R U OK?" Seemingly played to death, I heard it here and thought, damn, thats fresh. And then it just really takes off. Voorn put together the most beautiful melodic harmonies and vocals around here.

To be truthful, I listened to the last four/five tracks at least twenty times in one day. I just cant get over what he did with tracks 10 and 11. And herein lies the real mastery of this mix. Amazed, I went through the whole composition track by track. If I thought I was already amazed, I was really in for a surprise. In DE9: Closer To The Edit, Hawtin used a large number of short loops. In DE9: Transitions, he expanded the length of each loop, playing some out at almost their full original length. Tracks fade out and reappear, sometimes only for seconds (the DVD is helpful for this), but they are ultimately all there, playing close to their original form. But with Balance 014, the tracks are mashed up beyond all recognition. Vocals are pitched all over the place and mated to the perfect tune, like a slick shifting four on a vintage car.

I first gave this a thorough one-two listen, but never really found my interest peaked by the second mix. Having now listened to Mizuiro at length, I am sure I am missing something in Midori and will be spending the near future getting myself better acquainted. This very well could be the mix of the year.

Dosem - Silent Drop - 20-Jun-09 06:10 PM
Had to write a few words about this one to say dont let the low ratings fool you. The title track, Silent Drop, is an absolutely stunning number. Not my usual type of fare, quite trancey to be truthful, but its gorgeous. No description of its crisp kicks and rolling melodies, nor its fluid synthed out riffs and soaring heighs, will do it any justice. Most definitely a top track. Drop this any time you want the roof to lift off of wherever it is you are. Just beautiful . . .

Planetary Assault Systems - The Drone Sector - 27-May-09 04:35 PM
I cant quite figure out why the rating for this album isnt stratospheric, or why there arent a slew of glowing reviews. While varied in composition, it epitomizes not only the pioneering sound of mid-90s techno, but also the unique approach to music that characterizes the work of Luke Slater, aka Planetary Assault Systems. Ive listened to most, if not all of his releases, from the early days of Planetary Funk to recent EPs like Kat, yet it is this album that speaks the greatest to me. The eight tracks presented here cover a total range in style, from late night techno bangers to chilled out ambient electronica. So what do they have in common? Well, each song is very good, and a few are just downright fantastic.

The second track, Tap Dance, is a straight up percussive driver, though still on the deeper end of things. It keeps going and going with a nice, consistent beat. You Thought It, the third number on the album, is one that exemplifies the exact opposite of the Planetary Assault Systems sound. Mellow and revolving harmonies constitute this slice of electronica. The beat drops in and just lazily makes its way along a deep sea of bass. I was blown away that Slater created music like this. With the fifth track the album shifts gears again, or rather, changes vehicles completely. This is a maximally minimal track. Very simple, but very effective. A great opener. Stripped down like Plastikman, but with a much calmer aspect if you can say such a thing about what is, ultimately, techno.

The sixth and seventh tracks are most akin to the "typical" Planetary Assault Systems. These are the workhouses of techno sets; pumped up versions of tracks like the earlier Tap Dance. Screen has some really nice parts where the beat flutters around all layered up with a nice distorted bass and mids. However, with much difficulty Id have to say Dungeon is my favourite on the album. I dont know how to describe it, but this track is pure genius. A reoccurring theme here is its extreme simplicity. When I listen to it I immediately think of a cave, so the title is aptly chosen. Its like someone is tapping on a set of four or five crystals, creating this really icey sound. The drums build up, the kick comes in, then the dark chords, and finally some really stretched out mids. The midpoint of the track sees the addition of layered FX and samples, but the high crystal beat remains throughout the entire journey. Its awesome. Im not doing its greatness much justice, but if you like techno and Planetary Assault Systems you are going to love this album.

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