The Rootsman is anEnglish DJ/dub musician with 15 years experience and a discography thatincludes over two dozen EPs and albums since 1994.
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Although the popularityof bands featuring phat beats and female vocals has risen immensely,few artists have been able to perfect the style and display enoughoriginality in doing so to stand out amongst the more mediocre of suchacts.
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Although it's not quite like catching this electronic performer live, it is a nice artifact to own.
9098 Hits
Thanks, Mute for making these available now in the USA. While Red Star did reissue Suicide's first album in 1997, this version is coupled with a second CD.
8997 Hits
Peter Rehberg, well-knownfor his work in Rehberg & Bauer, is also prolific with his solooutput as Pita, featured on the Austrian experimental techno label MEGO.
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I feel a littleembarrassed browsing through my local record store's New Age section,but only a little. I find the latest album by the Brazilian group Uakti(wa-ka-chee), and am vindicated.
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Alas, the final installment of the 20 minutes to 2000 series from
Germany's Raster-Noton label. ELpH (a.k.a. Coil) constructs the
December issue, the most interesting and least minimal bit from the
entire series.
9580 Hits
Not just your regular remix album. This one kicks major booty withtracks from previous Laub CDs that have been reworked by folks likePole, Schneider TM and Coldcut.
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What is it with theJapanese and their interest in releasing different music in differentcountries? More annoying than them goddamned European two parts, thisremix EP has three different versions, three different tracklistings,yet one's released in Japan, one in Europe and one in North America.
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Bill Rieflin (Ministry, the Revolting Cocks, KMFDM, SWANS, NIN, etc),Robert Fripp and Trey Gunn (King Crimson) first pooled their impressivetalents on Rieflin's debut solo album from earlier this year, "Birth ofa Giant", also on First World Records. "The Repercussions of AngelicBehavior" is 53 minutes of instrumental improvisations from the samesessions. Whereas the majority of the tracks on "BoaG" were wellcrafted experimental pop songs, the 10 untitled tracks found here arelittle more than self indulgent, masturbatory jamming ... unfocused,leftover session fodder better left in the vaults. The music rangesfrom laid back ambient atmospheres, courtesy of Fripp and Gunn's uniqueguitar tones, to rapid-fire and somewhat random, headache inducingguitar/drum/bass noise blasts. There's a lot of talent in the room butto my ears there's a serious lack of soul. I'm sure the prog rock /acid jazz crowds would be able to find whatever it is they find in thissort of stuff ... but it does nothing for me. Save for three of thelonger (7+ minute) tracks of the more ambient nature, "Repercussions.."is really disappointing. "Birth of a Giant" makes much better use ofthe talents of Rieflin, Fripp and Gunn (and several others) and remainsone of my favorite new albums of 1999. Get it instead ... - Mark Weddle
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Fehlmann is an electronicmusician with 20 years experience as a member of Palais Schaumburg andthe Orb, producer/mixer for Sun Electric, and as a solo artist andre-mixer.
8403 Hits
Sometimes it gets quitedifficult to describe something without using comparisons to othersbefore them. While I really enjoy this, the charming and honest debutfull-lengther from Best Boy Electric, the slow and melodic musiccombined with the hesitant vocals screams of influence of Galaxie 500,Bedhead and of course, Low.
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Packaged in a flimsybaggy with a black and white book of artwork, Art-IC Culture in Swedenbrings this Aube release, constructed using only glass as the soundsource.
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My pick of the week is the fourth album by this German group, released in 1998. Notwist is allegedly an offshoot from the Tied and Tickled Trio, a jazz rock influenced group who can be found on more remixes than original product, including the Aerial M remix album "Post-Global Music".
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Just when you think Mute USA dropped the ball and turned their back on music in general (re: the exodus of classics such as Einsturzende Neubauten, Diamanda Galas and Nick Cave from the US label) they shock us all and strike a deal.
 
Mute US has entered a new market with German post-kraut-rock releases now due from To Rococo Rot, Kriedler and Schneider TM. "The Amateur View" is To Rococo Rot's first full-length release in the USA - preceeding this was the EP release on now defunct label Emperor Jones/Trance Syndicate as well as a couple European-only releases on City Slang and Kitty-Yo. To Rococo Rot take their music seriously and produce professionally with an audibly perfectionistic touch - a gentle yet appropriate blend of drum machines and live drums, sequenced and performed keyboards, samples and live bass. The tunes are pleasant, the tempo moves well throughout the entire disc, the sounce are slick and polished, there's nothing sloppy here. Don't let the title fool you, this album is anything but amateurish.
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I must admit I didn't know what to expect when hearing this, but I'm pleasantly surprised. This is the first (to my knowledge) first full-length official release from Russian sound engineer, Ivan Pavlov. Ivan is definately showing influences of a cross between Panasonic and Ryoji Ikeda, but it is definately his own. A pleasant surprise on this is the human element that has become so withdrawn from other music in this genre, his baby daughter Sasha appears on one of the tracks. I know it's nothing new, but it's something that fits well.
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The second collaboration between these three, and what a fine disc it is. Low bass dub influenced music, the Mick Harris signature drum loops, and special effects by Eraldo Bernocchi. While Laswell and Harris have been mass producing music lately in the droves, the right combination always has a possibility of yielding a stellar product. Listen to this one loud.
8111 Hits
Highly anticipated album from Digital Hardcore's first defectors. SonicSubjunkies are more musical than most of the DHR miscreants, but theirhypercharged breakbeat tirades slash through pile-ups of samples and noisein no less confrontational a manner. They can still be harder than the rest- hard as a fist studded with nails on "Das Elektrophon" and "Do You EvenKnow Who You Are?" - without ever losing the impressive control which setsthem apart from their peers. Stomping tank-tread hiphop ("Live FromJonestown" and "Welcome To Central Industrial"), Hooversonic jump-up jungle("12,000 RPM"), even the occasional low-boil pseudo-ambient interlude - arange of moods and demeanors, all stapled with rapid-fire Uzi breaks andautomatic discharges.
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To the uninitiated, Blonk sounds like a madman - babbling excitedly in non-languages, spitting guttural noises and pitched burps like a Speak-N-Spell rewired by a lunatic. He's quite sane, and enormously entertaining, an avid devotee of the obscure history of sound poetry.
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How much fun it must be to be able to release material like this.27 tracks of mind-warping weirdness from the heralded Masters who broughtyou the marvelous Datacide project series. This disc is quite thecuriosity! Not as similar-sounding to Datacide as one might initiallybe inclined to think, MU is a mindset prism, a refraction device for theheadphonaut's moods. Many seemingly incongruous tones and atmospheres arestrung together until anticipation and nostalgia become indistinguishable.And don't be deceived, this multitude of sonic segments continuously flowsinto 3 continuous pieces that convey the feel of the pleasantlyoverextended experimental style AND the well-seasoned and time-testedsound. And this won't be your average please-don't-peal-me-off-the-couch-manchill-out session. Only the all-terrain ambienteers will survive, as thelistener frequently deals with counterintuitive changes and sequencingcontradictions. Grinding, trickling, howling, warbling, squeezablemetallic textures will help melt down those rational thoughts and aid inthe discovery of new, more potent mental alloys! I suppose there may onlybe 2 stand-alone song-like tracks here, #18 (Backward Journey) and #23(Rather Sleep Then Dance). This latter track was also subsequentlyreleased in a slightly altered form on the Real Intelligence (RI033)compilation, and may be suggestive of both the post-partyvibe schools ofphilosophy and reality-permeating synchronicities. If you ever see this disc for sale and don't buy it, particularly ifyou're a Datacide fan, you will regret it till the end of your days when,that is if, you hear it.
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