• Browse Collection (45)

• Browse Wantlist (111)

• Contact

Proem - Songs 4 The City Bus - 01-May-07 07:18 AM
This is indeed a great album for listening to on the bus, at least most of the way through. I think the title and design were totally sincere about that. Same thick Proem vibes we know and love, but it feels a little more confident than earlier work - not slick but friendly, relaxed. "Radius" stands out strong here with a simple sunny melody and simple but effective grainy Proem drums. The rest of the album is pleasant, certainly great for imbibing the passing scenery while someone else drives. However, I was kind of let down with the last 3 (4, I guess, because track 9 has a built in "secret" track) as they break from the nice public transportation vibe. The Nautilis track is corny too but I'm generally not a big fan of his remixes. Overall, really good but if you're like me you'll skip track 7 and 8 and only listen to the last one if you're in the right mood (i.e. not on the bus.)

Gescom - That - 01-May-07 03:50 AM
Gescom's finest. I never get tired of this...excuse me, That. Here are a handful of crunchy 12 bit rhythms, all muscle and no fat. No pretense, no preachy point to be made, just power up the beatboxes and get down to business. If you want to know how to make one drum machine pattern and a couple stompboxes sound exciting, "Whatever" is your primer. Though That doesn't offer much in the way of melody (though "Self Impersonation" is quite pretty), it boasts a dense, rusty machine vibe that suggests a parallel IDM universe where DSP wankery would've been eschewed for rugged, skeletal beats from battle-scarred pawn shop gear.

Push Button Objects - Cash EP - 18-Apr-07 06:55 AM
Tasty. I just heard it for the first time and it sounds fresh and vital 10 years later. Fat sampled drums and grumpy analog bass with tasteful processing and atmospherics. A very thick urban sort of vibe here, warm like sunshine on pavement and cold like shady trees. Instead of strong emotions there's a strong sense of place. Smooth, fat and just a little IDM-nerdy but in the best way. No SupaTrigga here.

Autechre - Anvil Vapre - 14-Jul-06 04:26 PM
Electronic music has always been something of a niche. I can't speak for generations before mine (and for the one after mine, I know that Radiohead was the gateway), but my brother and I were first introduced to this world through MTV's late night Amp program. This show ended up saving us from the bad taste of the other 167 hours worth of weekly programming, and introduced us to our favorite band via the video for "Second Bad Vilbel".

9 years later, they're still my favorite, and this is still one of their best. It's not any more simple nor complex than it needs to be, it sounds bizarre and familiar, innovating without becoming self-conscious. And it still sounds fresh today.

"Bad Vilbel" comes in with a bang, or a rocket or whatever that is, sets us in motion and then slows for a glimpse into the machinery that is launching us from Earth. "Scepe" forges into alien territory that sounds mysteriously like Detroit, muscular but restrained. In "Scout" the EP starts to feel comfortable with itself, enjoying the ride while pondering the elasticity of bass. "Peng" is a sad and awkward goodbye to this strange and beautiful world.

Brothomstates - Rktic - 15-Apr-04 09:44 PM
Tasty release from Lassi Nikko. Kind of atmospheric, just a bit on the minimal side. Sounds like he's going back to using hardware. There's a bit of a dub element to both tracks with some tasty midrange-heavy brothomStates delay which is nothing new to his work, but is a bit more prominent here. Both seem a bit more dynamic than his earlier stuff, at least in the sense that they both build up to a climax, and a nice juicy climax at that in both cases.

The first track has textures a bit like trance but it's not the normal four on the floor beat. The beat, however, is nice and fat, if not quite as club friendly as the beat on the other side. Very rich flavour, thick, fat sounds. Some ecstatic, tremolo'd out pads segue into the climax here, a distorted kind of 303 type arpeggio (sans acid squeals).

The other side is laid down on a standard house beat, a little bit chunkier and dirtier (and more minimal) than the first. Slightly spooky, nostalgic melodies and lush, reverby atmospherics. Recurrence of that kind of late 80s anime vibe kind of like the set he did with Crankshaft that was available at his website. Distorted female vocal slinks around in the space between the delays. Dubby synth-chirps foreshadow the climax at 4:00, when the song breaks down into just the beat with some nice sunshiney pads that start out sounding like gramma's dusty old jazz organ and then elevate into a waterfall of light.

Very funky stuff compared to earlier brothomStates. Not nearly as cerebral or serious as his other stuff - maybe he found a special someone? Even so, it's still thoughtful and well crafted while maintaining that futuristic but still human, handmade (or at least hand-tracked) brothomStates touch.

View all 6 reviews...