"Gone Too Far!" Experimental Sound Terrorist Records EST001 1999 (73:58)
PCM "UXB" (6:19)
Blacklands "Symbryo" (4:09)
SIMM "While You Sleep" (5:12)
Ocosi "Guide" (4:42)
Lab Report "Fig U-34" (edit) (5:02)
Obsequie "Awake the Somnambulist" (5:27)
Clang "Who's Who" (5:49)
Grounded "The Second Worst Idea, You've Ever Had" (4:17)
Resident Phase Shifter "Space Age Polymer" (Tight Mix) (4:31)
Dijislov "Bowman's Anthem" (2:22)
DJ Fucar "Blue Box" (4:12)
NOS "Vessel" (5:45)
Tactile "Mars in Exile" (4:33)
Otraslab "Flick Ya Bick for the Mollywick" (6:04)
Sheephead "Bay of Hopelessness" (Plotkin Remix) (5:32)
PCM is Neil Harvey, Blacklands is Gjorg Cicci, SIMM is Eraldo Bernocchi, Ocosi is Paul Molyneux and Simon Smerdon, Lab Report is Matthew Schultz, Obsequie is Travis Brasfield, Clang is Mick Harris, Grounded is Noah Buckley and Jay Fisher, Resident Phase Shifter is Adam Yaffe, Dijislov is Jesse Foster, DJ Fucar is Eric Hanson, NOS is Giuseppe Di Benedetto and Jean Codoni and Tactile is John Everall.
Overall impression: good. "Gone Too Far" is the limited (500) debut release from the new breakbeat/dub/ambient label Experimental Sound Terrorist Records, founded by Travis Brasfield of Obsequie. Travis has done an impressive job of collecting together some of the biggest names in these 'genres', many of which are from the Possible, Alleysweeper and Sentrax crews (see also "Sonics Everywhere", "Noise Reduction II", "Interiors"). Most of these tracks fall into the breakbeats/bass/dub category, the exceptions being the ambient/noise tracks by Lab Report, Grounded, Tactile and Sheephead. The tempos of the beat-based tracks range from slo-mo (SIMM, Ocosi, Obsequie, Dijislov, NOS, Otraslab) to frenzied (Blacklands, Clang, Resident Phase Shifter). A few specific track comments: "While You Sleep" has a very cool groove about it, a bizarre horn sample and is very similar to mid-'90s Scorn. "Fig U-34" is one of those tracks that you'll only likely to find on a Lab Report album ... dark and eerie drones coupled with what sounds like distant bangings of doors and footsteps. "Who's Who" is the most brutal track I've heard to date from Mick Harris, a relentless, rapid-fire distorted onslaught of beats. "Space Age Polymer" does a great job of mixing up the tempo and beats. "Blue Box" utilizes guitar strum and horn samples for a sublime effect. The sounds/styles are varied enough throughout to keep me interested and I don't need to skip any of them. My personal favorites: "While You Sleep", "Fig. U-34", "Space Age Polymer", "Blue Box" and "Flick ya Bick for the Mollywick". Everytime I start to think I'm getting burnt out on this sort of music a new compilation comes along that changes my mind. And yes, the scan above is accurate ... the cd comes in a plain black jewel case with a simple insert ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Travis at EST Records