Whether you love Rephlex or hate it (or perhaps even fall somewhere inbetween), you can't deny that the label has progressed nicely from it'sbirth a decade ago — as a home for the acid techno experimentations ofRichard D. James (and soundalikes) — to become one of the more eclecticimprints around. This is proven quite nicely by this simultaneous pairof releases from Cylob that have absolutely nothing in common save theartist responsible.'Cut The Midrange,...' is a three-track EP that follows in the samecute electro vein as Cylob's "Rewind" single from a couple of yearsback. The title song features a Stephen Hawking-style computer voicecrooning early 90s rave cliches like "everybody is in the place", "rockthe house", "gonna take you higher" and "jack to the sound of theunderground" over a simple breakbeat and computerized plink-plonks& squelches. The middle track, "With This Ring", is short andforgettable, but the electro cover version of the hoary old sea shanty"What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor" that closes the disc is a hoot.
As for Mood Bells, it's something else entirely. Inspired by a two weekvisit to Japan, Cylob's Chris Jeffs describes the work as "Japanesetraditional music that doesn't exist". As the title suggests, it is amellow and relaxing work composed almost entirely of bell and gongsounds with very little in the way of electronic manipulation orprocessing. A beautiful and exotic work that caps a year of remarkablevariety from the Rephlex contingent.
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