Gangleri – music reviews

Last week I stumbled upon the French distro and label Steelwork Maschine. I never heard of them, nor have I heard of most projects they release and sell. Not having enough time to carefully look through their catalogues, I got a copy of this split cdr. Neon Rain offers some alright to nice rhythmical industrial tracks, HP Unit 14 has more tranquil IDM or drum’n'bass sounds which are not too good. It is always nice to run into new music, but I will have to check if Steelwork also sells really good stuff.
Links: Neonrain, Steelwork Maschine

Like I wrote earlier, HeilsKabaal is an “ambient/ noise/ drone/ audio-collage/ fieldrecording” label. In my opinion AvoidAudio does not really fit that picture. What I hear is good old “idm“, or “intelligent dance music”. The more tranquil projects in this style have always used stretched sounds on the background of their cut-up rhythms and the same goes for AvoidAudio. IDM, wasn’t that somthing of 8 years ago? I haven’t really followed it and I don’t know if the projects of back then still have the same sound, but the way I see it, AvoidAudio is at best a “vintage” IDM project. Not that “The Idea…” is a bad album, it’s just not very original and I don’t even have such a big IDM discotheque. I guess I expected more of an “ambient/ noise/ drone/ audio-collage/ fieldrecording” album with IDM elements. Oh well, let’s say: “for vintage sake”.
AvoidAudio, HeilsKabaal

I don’t think that I heard of the label before they sent me an email to notify me about their free compilation. “IDM” I am not sure if this is still the name this music goes under these days. In the beginning I called it “abstract techno” by lack of a tag, later terms used in the media were “cuts and clicks”, “dub”, “electronica” and later “intelligent dance music”. The most funny thing is, is that the music isn’t really danceable (in my opinion). The music seems to go back to weird electronic acts such as Autechre and Aphex Twin, but it seems that in the evolution of this cut-up breakbeat music seems to have gone in two directions. One is a more soft and melodic sound (Funckstörung, Funckarma), the other fucked-up and violent (following Venetian Snares). The first then is “IDM”, the latter “breakcore”. Of course there are numerous crossbreeds and novelties. What -for example- to do with a weirdo such as Kid 606? Anyway, in the beginning I had the idea that the music is still the same as seven years ago when it was still new. Soft music, crazy rhythms/beats, a bit of orchestrations. But as the cd continues there come some harder tracks and some tracks with new elements. There are some very nice tracks on the compilation and you can heard the sound of both old and new. <4/3/07><3>

Well, I already liked the cooperation between the Wu-Tang Clan and Funkstörung (see Funkstörung “Additional Productions” review) which is a crazy mix between difficult electronic music (it seems that some people decided to call it “idm” or “intelligent dance music”) and hiphop; crazy music with funny rapping. However Antipop isn’t as crazy as the mentioned track, this is still pretty funny! Actually the insane rhythms and sampled go very well with a fast kind of rapping and the combination here sounds pretty damn good! There is already a new Antipop album called “Arrythmic” which I hope to hear some time soon. <19/6/02><4>

The new Aphex is a “30 Track Double CD” with about 100 minutes of music. I suppose I don’t have to tell you that this is a pretty crazy release? Anyway, in some tracks Richard D. James proves that he is the inspiration for bands like Funckarma, Funkstörung or Plaid (all see below) with fairly atmospheric music with strange rhythms, in other tracks James goes berzerk as usual and all this is alternated with piano music or short pieces of strange sounds. As always this Aphex isn’t for anyone and personally I have never been a very big fan of this project, but some tracks are undoubtely very good and from these two cds you can get one good one of about an hour, so maybe it is a good buy! <29/12/01><3>

When I was looking for a copy of the new Venetian Snares (which I found) my eye fell on a new cd of Autechre. Autechre is one of these “pioneers of weird electronic dance music” like Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. It is always interesting to hear what guys like that came up with, but in particular Autechre has never been my favourite artist and it seems that this new album is even one of the less accessible ones (compared to himself!). There is no structure or melody or whatever in these tracks. This makes the music not suitable to just listen to sitting on a couch, you can’t dance to it, so what then? Well one thing is listening to the electronic skills of the artist is one thing or maybe playing it as background music (however you and/or your guests may get nerves of it). Autechre is sure worth to listen to, but not really music to play. So just get a copy of the cd to find out if things can get more crazy, but maybe even you like this kind of stuff! A small word to those then: this album is rather slowpaced / tranquil with a few faster tracks towards the end. <11/8/05><2>

I don’t think I had ever heard of Christian Fennesz before I saw this cd. When I put it on, it soon became clear that this is one of the most abstract “electronica” act that I have ever heard. In the review of Funckarma’s “Parts” (see below) I wrote that they have hardly definable rhythms, but I can asure you that Funckarma sounds like disco in comparison to Fennesz! “Endless Summer” contains the strangest and abstract soundscapes with completely cut-up sounds, sometimes something that I can only call “rhythm” by lack of a better word and not really any melody even. Only for the advanced listeners I guess. <29/12/01><1>

It seems that abstract techno is slowly becoming more and more popular. Aphex Twin has hits on MTV and Funckarma won some kind of popprice. They seem to be the talk of the day, this project. When I rented “Parts” at the cd-rental shop, there were only two more people in the shop who were both ‘fans’.
Anyway, what you will hear when playing “Parts” is slow and rather tranquil, but very abstract techno with hardly a definable rhythm, cut-up beats and strange sounds with here and there a clear tone or some melody. Sometimes I get the idea of listening to someone playing a computer game, so little structure is there to be heard.
To speak for myself, I prefer some energy and structure. For others I can say that when you are not irritated by experiments of Aphex Twin or Speedy J, you may want to listen to this cd some time as well. <28/3/01><2>

Second cd of the Dutch brothers Funcken. “Solid State” sounds pretty much like “Parts” (see above), pretty melodious, fairly accessible (when you get used to the style of music), but with some more abstract tracks than previously. I don’t think this is the best project in the genre and I still prefer more energy and structure, but listening to Funckarma you get an idea of what is going on with techno music these days. But maybe you want to listen to the recently released dub compilation first. <29/12/01><2>

Funkstörung is another techno act making what I call “abstract techno” like Funckarma (see above). The booklet is so vague that I’m not sure about the cd-title, label name or release year, but above you can see what I made of it.
On this cd Funkstörung cooperated with different artists being Björk, DJ Craze, the Wu-Tang Clan and S’Apex resulting is fairly accessible but at times totally insane and unstructured techno. Here and there the music sounds quite ‘hiphopish’, but at other times Funkstöring ignore all laws of logic and these are actually the best tracks from this album. I expect that an album of Funkstörung alone will only contain ‘technonense’. I’ll let you know when I find such an album. <7/4/01><3>

This German act is probably the most well-known project in the ‘post-Aphex/Autechre/etc’ “electronica” field. This is mostly caused by the fact that Funkstörung does a lot of remixes of known and less-known artists making vague techno of all kinds of different kinds of music. After “Additional Productions” (see above) this is another cd filled with remixes. These are of respectively Plaid, Jay-Jay Johanson, Nils Petter Molvaer, A Guy Called Gerald, Beans, Speedy J. Ike Yard, The Notwist, Funckarma, Phillip Boa + The Voodooclub, Tocotronic and Jean Michel Jarre. I don’t know any of the original tracks and besides Speedy J. and Funckarma I don’t know any of the remixed bands, or only by name.
Anyway, “Viceversa” isn’t too good in my opinion. The tracks in the beginning are very tranquil, jazzy and not too appealing. There are a few nice (Speedy J., Ike Yard) to great tracks (Funckarma, Beans), but overall “Viceversa” is not too great. <9/2/02><2>

Here we have something in between Plaid and Funckarma. Minimal experimental music with strange sounds and rhythms. This is a little too tranquil for my liking, but it’s funny to hear what people (seemingly) inspired by Autechre and Aphex Twin make these days. <3/6/01><2>

A couple of years ago I saw Kid 606 live in Den Haag (Netherlands). There was a festival with a then fairly unknown kind of experimental techno. All the acts had releases on the French label “Mille Plateaux” who just released the second issue of their “cuts ’n clicks” compilation cd, giving the music a name. Later it became “intelligent dance music” (idm), “electronica”, “electronics” or whatever. Inspired by artists like Aphex Twin, Autechre and Squarepusher, a new generation of laptop artists made tranquil music with weird cut-up beats and samples. Kid 606 had a show with problems and proved to be a bit louder than the rest. For years I never paid much attention, not even much to the music in general, but then I heard that I should listen to the new Kid 606 (thanks bro). I listened to the mcd “The Illness” which has the two brilliant and loud tracks from the 12” with three other tracks of which two are not too good. Then I listened to “The Action…”. It is a 60 minute cd that is crazier then Hellfish, but not as loud. Tons of samples, many extremely well-known (Kylie Minogue, Bangles, Radiohead), the weirdest rhythms with here and there are regular ‘gabber beat’. All in all much better than other things I have heard from this ‘scene’, but Kid 606 does seem to have the same labels as other acts reviewed here. Some tracks are completely brilliant, but Kid 606 is very obviously showing off. First drum & bass, then digicore, then a piece that sounds a lot like Squarepusher. Sometimes it is a bit too much. At times great, at times not too great, but overall a very nice cd. There is a new one coming up. Hopefully the 12” tracks will be on it. <21/8/03><3>

This band is getting quite popular and I can hear why. However this music is pretty strange, it is very accessible. I believe this music is totally electronic, but it actually reminds me to this experimental (ethereal) popmusic of the 80′ies a bit (without vocals though), with jazzy music, strange sounds and funny rhythms. Always very tranquil and you will never be able to guess what you will hear in the next minute. Very funny, but not my kind of music. <3/6/01><2>

Tom Jenkinson has been trying out the possibilities of recording equipment for a long time and is regarded as inspiration for projects like Aphex Twin, Autechre, Speedy J or younger projects like Funckarma or Fuckstörung. When the first Squarepusher cds were released, people didn’t know what to file them under, so they used the tag “drum & bass” which doesn’t really cover the music of Squarepusher. Some tracks may give a bit the idea of d&b, but while that music is mostly built around a certain rhythm (however strange), Jenkinson’s music is hardly the same for three seconds. As a matter of fact his music is completely crazy and often drives unwary listeners that very mental condition. Squarepusher is extremely ‘full/busy’ music with the most insane sounds and ‘rhythms’ and seems to lack every sence of structure. What I like about some Squarepusher tracks is that they are can be a lot harder than most similar music that is made these days. Unfortunately “Go Plastic” is mostly (relatively) tranquil, but there are a few completely idiotic tracks on it. I know better Squarepusher tracks than those on “Go Plastic” as well, but it seems that Jenkinson has gone totally mad when recording this one. Squarepusher sure dares to take things a few steps further than many of his colleagues/followers, so listen to “Go Plastic” if you dare. <11/8/01><3>

Not a bandname that makes you think of techno first, right? Well, this sure is techno! The cover gives a good impression of the music here. It is green with a simple drawing in yellow, the bandname and title and the label. The music also leaves out anything unnecessary. There is no music more than a (strange) rhythm and a few sounds. That this doesn’t have to be boring can be heard on “Tiny Reminders”. Almost every song complete differs from the previous. Sometimes you can hear a bizare rhythm with weird sounds, reminding a bit of for example Fuckarma or even Aphex Twin, at other times the rhythms is more hiphopish, bigbeat or “four to the flour”, but never it sounds much like you have heard before (if you are not into this kind of music) and pretty strange. Expecially because of the minimalism and variety without being overdone I actually find this quite an exciting cd, even though it doesn’t have the energy that I usually prefer in techno. <19/5/01><4>

I saw this wonderfull collection of ‘anime’ quite some time ago. I noticed it for only E 7,- in a shop and decided to buy it. Arriving home I see that there is not only a DVD, but also a CD in the box! The cd is a very nice collection of techno music, starting tranquilly going towards nice straight-forward techno and ending in a pretty hard drum and bass track. The artists are respectively Peace Orchestra, Freeland, Layo & Bushwackal, Supreme Beings Of Leisure, Meat Beat Manifesto, Photek, Death In Vegas, Junkie XL featuring Saffron, Overseer, Juno Reactor, Junkie XL with Don Davis, Tech Itch with Don Davis. A great DVD ànd a great CD, so keep your eyes open for the double version.! <24/5/06><4>

After the compilation 12″s “Nummer Een” and “Nummer Twee”, the Dutch progressive techno label Dub Recordings comes with the 12″ “Nummer Drie”. Again there is a cd version with much more tracks than on vinyl, so the choice is easy. 12 Tracks and 70 minutes of tranquil experimental techno that since it became relatively popular got different names to identify it. “Electronica”, “cuts and clicks” (after the compilation series on Mille Plateaux from France), “downtempo”/”slowbeat” (the US terms), etc. Even though there is something similar in the USA, they don’t have our Dub-recordings there.
Anyway, if you don’t know this kind of music, it is hard to describe. As said the music is very tranquil, there isn’t really melody in it, but some clear tunes for the atmosphere. Most stress is on the vague rhythms/beats that aren’t regular or danceble, but also no “breakbeats” or “drum’n'bass rhythms”, but cut-up beats that will drive most people mad. If you know Aphex Twin should be able to get an idea of what we have here, but Aphex goes 3 steps further in madness and idioticy.
I think most tracks sound a bit too much like the best-known project “Funckarma” (they are on the cd, but not on the 12″!, also see their cds above). Also I prefer some more energetic and harder form of this music (like Squarepusher or some Aphex), but this is quite enjoyable as background music, but again, most people will get very nervous when listening to this. <3/2/01><2>

And here we have proof that the closing question of my N-Vitral review cannot be answered with a “yes”. “Masonic” is the name of a 4×12″ compilation which was also released on 2cd. Basically it is a techno compilation, but it is also sold in the industrial scene. Musically it shows a wide range of techno(ish) sounds, giving a nice overview of what is available. From the electro-sounds (in the ‘techno explanation’) of Bochum Welt and soft “intelligent dance music” of Funkstörung to drum and bass, hard techno like that of Venetian Squares or danceble industrial of bands like Imminent, Gridlock or Substanz T. The compilation is not overall brilliant, but there certainly are great tracks on it and the majority is enjoyable enough. Both for industrial and techno lovers! <8/11/04><3>

Aaron Funk was in Hungary and you will know. The title means something like ‘It was born under a bad star’. When I heard about this album I downloaded the teasers from the label’s site. 2 Mins of every track was enough for me to write a review, but also to make me decide to get a copy of the album. Venetian Snares is known to most people for his extremely experimental and most of all loud “breakcore”. On the latest album you will get (live) orchestrations with ‘intelligent dance music’ on the background. Strange and nice, but not entirely original. Fuckarma did somthing similar and I also have a Fuckstörung track in this vein. But still, Venetian Snares is a bit harder than the other two and a whole album makes a nice diversity between my usual kinds of music. From orchestral music to fucked-up Aphex Twin techno. Visit the label’s site for a teaser. <11/9/05><3>