DJ Food Peace 12"- I bought this not knowing that it was off the full length,
I'm just not motivated yet to hear the full thing. I really liked it when I
first heard it, big nasty synth coming in at the end and a screaming guitar
solo.... anyway it's OK the thrill wore off pretty quick. I would even say it
sounds a little boring. However, it is upbeat and will get the butts a shakin'
Funky Porcini- King Ashabapanal 12" (GREEN) - Anybody heard the brown 12". I
hear it is different. I'm not really sure if this is new or not. Anyway I
like it; 4 or 5 mixes on it. 2 jungle I think , 1 dubby hip hop, pretty nice;
nice beats. 1 of the jungle tracks is slower and that makes it very
interesting in a real electro kind of way......
The real finds.......
Dr Rockit double 10"- the rebirth of electro.. yessir, very exciting release
with one really driving tune that mixes great over GM Flash Beat Street
Breakdown. A fast jungle track (Idon't really like jungle but... ) Dr. Rockit
pulls it off. plus a couple of slower dubby / ambient electronica stuff..
(voted best album of '95 by breakdancing Bambi)
Clatterbox - same label as Dr. R. Far more consistent. Blip and bleepy
electro. Some nice disco basslines give this a funky groove. Mixes great
with anything, especially itself, and Afrika Bambaataa style stuff.
Elektroids - Maybe there was a theme to my buying blitz this weekend. They
have a full length and an Ep off of Warp. The full length was described to
me as a cross between Kraftwerk and electro..... well the verdict is that it is
a little on the Kraftwerk side of things with some pretty stupid vocals/
repeated phrases (Japanese Electronics). However, the ep was pretty funky, I
didn't actually pick it up yet, that's tomorrow's duty, but I don't think there
were any vocals, more like the above stuff.
Maybe this is a sign of a change of style. Maybe the old jazz funk has been
done backwards and forwards, and things have come out of this rebirth but
that's it, it's time to move. I sense this on the list that maybe a lot of
people are pretty sick of the acid jazz ( sick of discussing it
anyway... i.e. how many times must we discuss JTQ's Starsky and Hutch theme)
.. no record review either.
Most of the stuff I'm hearing seems a little too formula. The jazzy side of
things sound somewhat flat, I may as well listen to my old records. I can
put Cal Tjader on and just think- wow listen to him pound those vibes. Then a
vibe based aj tune plays... yawn yeah it's OK. I still like it but progression
wise, I don't see anything very much, besides more overly produced rehashings
(dream on dreamer etc.) for radio airplay.
So where are things going? Well, that's something to discuss. I think it's
to bridge the gap between techno and funk ....... Electro....
There's gonna be a breakdown
Chris Ireland
aka 'Krys Elektroland'