Donnerstag, 9. Nov 2006, 2:46
Hi, here's a new journal entry where I will discuss releases by Arc vs. Tiny Objects in Space, Drum Komputer, Bionaut, and Jan Jelinek avec The Exposures.
Arc vs. Tiny Objects in Space: Arc vs. Tiny Objects in Space
One of the early releases on 12k records, this disc has five tracks by Arc, which is Taylor Deupree and Savvas Ysatis, and five from Tiny Objects in Space, which is just Taylor Deupree, although I would have a hard time telling one from the other. Even though everything here could probably be classified under the "minimal techno" label there is actually a pretty wide range of sounds represented, from somewhat experimental stuff like Arc's "Sci" to tracks that wouldn't seem out of place on a dancefloor like Tiny Objects in Space's Detroit-styled "Tetris" and Chicago house bassline of Arc's "516". It's not particularly impressive or groundbreaking stuff here, but still quality and certainly not bad. Plus I've been obsessing over the 12k label lately…
Drum Komputer: Alphabet Flasher
Another 12k album, another Taylor Deupree release, this time accompanied by Dietrich Schoenemann, who I must confess I don't know anything at all about. Alphabet Flasher is sort of similar to the Arc vs. Tiny Objects in Space album, but perhaps a bit less minimal. It's interesting how albums from artists I generally associate with the glitch scene (I'm thinking some early releases on 12k like this one as well as the Raster Series on Raster-Noton) before the genre really came into existence have a sound so similar to the Artificial Intelligence stuff. Maybe the thing has to do with artists switching from hardware to computers, and I'm sure at least some of it is just trendfollowing. Anyway, I like this album and, like the above album, find it very nice but not amazing.
Bionaut: Big Causeway To Gone
I don't really know anything about the two guys behind Bionaut, and I just got this CD because it was so cheap (I got it for $0.25 from the same eBay seller a got the two above 12k releases from). I think they called this kind of kind of music "synth ambient" and it sounds exactly like you'd think it would sound with a name like that. At times it's really cheesy (the first track, for example, has samples of what seems to be a film or documentary on acid running through its ten minute entirety), but based on the press-release the artists may purposefully be trying to be ironic or something. Not bad, really.
Jan Jelinek Avec The Exposures: La Nouvelle Pauvreté
I've been meaning to get ahold of this Jan Jelinek album for a while, and just recently I bought a used copy off Amazon. I think at this point it is fairly well determined that The Exposures are simply yet another Jelinek alias, but I'm not sure if there has ever been any definitive proof of that given. Anyway, I think this was his second album released on ~scape (after Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records), and, as I've mentioned in a shoutbox post already, it really shows the progression between his previous album and Kosmischer Pitch. He starts using less "manipulated" sounds and more in their pure form, a couple tracks even showing that repeated guitar strumming that really is a defining element of Kosmischer to me. The overall sound is much less "submerged"-sounding that Loop-Finding as well. This is actually his most diverse album, I think, even compared to the one with Triosk, which, by the way, also shares some similarities with this album, mainly in the instrumentation. Another thing worth mentioning is the presence of vocals on a number of tracks here, sometimes treated or pitch shifted like on "Facelift", but mostly (relatively, at least) clean male vocals. I don't know if it is Jelinek himself singing or not, but they don't really detract from the album at all despite the fact they don't seem to be from especially well-trained vocalist. This is now my second favorite Jelinek album, Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records still holding the top spot.
That's all for now… I was planning to talk about Taylor Deupree's new EP 1am that just became available on the 12k shop a week or so ago, Shuttle 358's Chessa, Goem's Abri, and Frank Bretschneider's Rand, but I'm tired now and I'll save it for another time.