Catching The Waves

Nice Legs; Shame About The Face

Yes, that is an actual (and full-size) album cover. Yikes. Moving swiftly on, pray place your head between two large loudspeakers and say “wibble”, for Max Cavalerra is here to shatter your earwax with five tracks of bangin' techno.

The majority of Cavalerra's The Bigger, The Better EP eschews the groovy complexity of minimal for more straightforward dance beats: the holy trinity of snare, kick and hi-hat stick closely together and move in a group from “fast” down to “take a breather” and back up to “crush the dance floor”. To illustrate, allow me to recommend  the immensely heavy opening track, Impact, wherein various noises off reverberate around a lone synth stab and a simple yet irresistibly catchy kick/snare/bass combo. Play it on a meaty sound system and watch your windows wobble.

Max Cavalerra - Impact

Similarly, the follow-up, Function, uses a "melody" consisting of just the one bass note repeated endlessly. Swathes of white noise and high-speed flummery threaten to swamp the relentless techno beat but that aforementioned religious trio keeps on keeping on. Hey, it's techminimalhousedance. What did you expect, a fugue?

In Memory of Violett is actually more, er, minimal than techno. (Self-contradiction is my speciality. It's not. It is, really. No, it ain't.) Some synths waft about in a chilled-out manner and make good use of the aural spatial field, although the intricate percussion still runs on rails. Like the rest of the album, it confirms CTW's well-known First Law of Dance Music.*

Energetic, forthright, insistent: all adjectives that apply not only to CTW's manly odour but also to 1000ccm's six and a half minutes. I must report that this tech-house track is full of the usual culprits. Yep, expect bass drops, low-passed breakdowns, hi-hats that move your noggin back and forth and the odd piquant vocal snippet. It's not overly original, but nor are olives - and I love olives.

Using the same punctuation-notation as a questionable but interesting chess move⁺, What The Bell?! is a track that shows Cavalerra's production chops. Surprise, surprise, there's some delicate chimey stuff nestling in the background of the seemingly well-mannered minimal-tech that constitutes the track's first half, but the chief attraction is the introduction of a chewy, electro-acid synth line that gets all glitchy over its bad self. It reminds me of the electro badass rather super Tom Neville. This is a good thing.

Right, it's time for me to skip gaily through the daisy-drenched uplands of free netmusic only to return  at an unspecified time and waistline measurement. In the meantime, I suggest you dump The Bigger, The Better in your mp3 player, swap its egregious album cover for a picture of Beyoncé/Britney/The Hoff/Alastair Sim, and wait for your headphones to flap up like the ears of a surprised basset hound. Netlabel music can have that effect.

Please think about sending a "thank you" email to Max, who is probably busy DJ-ing Munich to a standstill, and/or Broque.de netlabel, which should be thinking hard about adding a PayPal "tips" button to its whiter-than-white website. Thank them for all the lovely sounds. But not the pictures.

Max Cavalerra - The Bigger, The Better (link to zipped album & individual files)

Maxcavalerra.com

Broque.de netlabel

*All dance tracks are a third too long. You know it's true.

+Knowledge of this stuff has not affected my love-god status in the slightest.

Never Mind The Width; Feel The Quality

The astute blurb on the release page at IDMf netlabel for Halogen - Length and Brecht (Remixed) compares it to a classical composition. Uncannily, the EP, consisting as it is does of one track by Halogen, a Brighton-based artist, and three remixes by other musos, feels as though it's the work of one person bent on producing a four-movement composition; there isn't the usual jarring, though often enjoyable, scramble of disparate sounds one associates with remixes essayed by musicians eager to parade their own production's fireworks.

Halogen's original track features a langorous descending piano motif in an abyssal acoustic that is so big it allows for the hammering of the top notes, whose fortississimo is made bearable by the cushioning reverb. A ghostly female vocal joins in and wraps your ears in swaddling clothes while a cello adds to the warmth. Remove 60 seconds from the five-minute running time and you have a contender for the chill-out track of the year. The combination of a cavernous reverb and a leisurely theme reminds me, scandalously you might think, of Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, composed specifically to take advantage of Gloucester Cathedral's superb acoustics. It's a wafer-thin connection, to be sure, but the ethos - if not the execution - is similar.

Strangely enough, the third track, the Field Rotation remix, is a gnat's todger longer than Halogen's original, but feels shorter even though the pace is funereal. A feather-light percussive rhythm, bass booms and swirling vocals blend into the mix to make something that should not be listened to while operating heavy machinery. Play it on a good stereo and alert the coast guard for beached whales. /badtaste

The tempo ups with the appearance of the Woodnote remix, whose synths and crunchy, granular goodness are the fibre in Halogen's musical muesli. It forms an impressive ending to "/Remixed/" as we must call it.

Today's recommended track, Synaecide's remix, (track two) could be described as the allegro of the four movements. Its snippets of the album's overriding piano motif and heart-stoppingly beautiful grainy vocals will give listeners a taste of what to expect elsewhere in the EP. However, Synaecide has also pressed the big red button marked (wears nose-peg in distaste) “IDM” and given us a whirlwind of glitches and clicks that provide an outlet for the suppressed emotion in the other three tracks. It becomes an electro romp with a gnarly bass line punctuated by a brief mid-riff "skip" in tempo; a compositional flourish that I'm sure RWV would have enjoyed. If Woodnote adds fibre, this adds roughage. Halogen - Length and Brecht (Synaecide Remix) is track two in the Soundcloud player below, which has barged its way in like an orange sore thumb because IDMf doesn't supply an open mp3 link for CTW's Yahoo media player, which is now feeling increasingly sorry for itself. (Feed readers click here to listen.)

Free music is rather scrumptious, isn't it?

I'm now going to undermine completely my pretentious burblings about over-arching compositional structures, etc., by advising listeners to rearrange the tracks' order so that Halogen's effort is followed by Woodnote's and then Synaecide's. That way, your ears build towards a climax (I apologise for that mental image) and then get a rubdown from Field Rotation's chill-out track: when the piano motif resurfaces, it feels like an old friend has returned. I've listened to /Remixed/ a lot and the track order is the only minor quibble I have, even though I've wibbled on about the importance of structural unity. Me = idiot. The album is a treat however you want to listen to it.

I dust memove by - sorry, I must remove my nose-peg to admit that I have nothing against IDM per se apart from the term itself, which I think is nonsensical and divisive. I especially have nothing against IDMf netlabel, which should be proud of itself for releasing such marvellous collections, and the IDM Forum, which should be proud of itself for keeping its shy and retiring members safe and secure in their little padded cells. Please keep the wardens on their toes by sending the netlabel lots of congratulatory emails and a promise of a gold watch - if a Paypal icon ever appears on their site. ;)

Halogen - Length and Brecht (Remixed) (link to zipped album & individual files)

Halogen's blog and MySpace

IDMf netlabel

Modem - Wooly Mammoth Stomp

 

I've followed Typepad's well-meaning advice about attracting readers to this greasy corner of the net, and have therefore used an obvious and explicit post title instead of my usual artsy-fartsy and obscure fare. Don't try to make a clever pun: just say what it is you're writing about.

*looks up*

Yeah, that's really going to help. People type that into Google all the time.

Modem, an aspiring sound designer from Tempe in Arizona, first essayed Wooly Mammoth Stomp, a fine example of IDM fast-paced, glitchy, danceable electronica, in his ModEP003 album of 2006. Two years later, with a little help from his friends, he released an EP of remixes of the aforementioned stomp. Now CTW will add some unwarranted amateurism to this hitherto orderly and professional process.

The first remix of Wooly Mammoth Stomp, by Terminal11, features a filthy electro riff, some nifty vocal stutters, an accordion and synth embellishments. Overall, it's a...wait...back up. Accordion? In an electro track? Oh well, in the wacky world of electronica one must expect the unexp...accordion? It should be disastrous, but it's so incongruous yet so well done that it somehow works.

Modem - Wooly Mammoth Stomp (Terminal11 Remix)

Following that is Captainmarmalade's Eskimo Kisses Remix, two minutes of blazingly rapid IDM glitchy percussion garnished with choppy synths and smash edits. The Nero's Day at Disneyland Remix by, er, Nero's Day at Disneyland is another two minutes of the same, albeit with a tired house-ish intro that is redeemed by smart synth work and an electro bass line.

Talve's Remix is a stealth song: this is an unremarkable, if well-produced, piece of uptempo electronica that, without announcing its intentions, engages you in polite conversation, lulls you into a false sense of security and then gently slips a cold hand up your thigh. Gradually, without any fanfare, the tempo drops and drops...and drops, until the track finally becomes slower than underfunded public transport; uncannily, the formerly percussive bleeps and blips morph into ambient pings reverberating against a shimmering synth pad. It's like sitting in a hot bath: two minutes of ooh-ing and aah-ing followed by deepening calmness and scented candles. Recommended for those who need to chill out. One might say that it's a mammoth track.

Glix's Anxt Remix is a deft slice of (dread acronym) IDM with odd flashes of synthy interest and glitchy tomfoolery. The Floorcrusher Remix by ANgR. MgMT. is a suitably aggressive reworking of the title track which confirms that every remix on this 26-minute long EP is impeccably produced and realised. There's nothing woolly about it at all. And yes, I did use the British spelling. W.o.o.l.l.y. So there.

If you like this free album, please don't forget to thank Modem. Don't forget to think about downloading his other free albums, MODEP003 & MODEP002. You could also visit his website's "Friends" section for links to the artists featured on Wooly Mammoth Stomp. End of orders.

Modem - Wooly Mammoth Stomp (link to individual mp3s and zipped album - it's a rather primitive download page. "192.rar" is the zipped album. As yet, Modem hasn't added an album cover, but you could always copy the picture he gave me for this review. Go on, rub my wool.)

Modem (much less primitive)

Modem on MySpace

Ears Burnin'

Frustratingly, Guns Blazin' is unavailable at the moment due to a slight copyright problem. *folds arms at the Prof* Naughty boy. But don't worry - he's cleaning things up and planning to release a squeaky-clean version, plus more besides.

Brace yourselves. I am now sitting stark naked at my laptop. My clothes, once Savile Row's finest, smoulder on the floor behind me, rent asunder by a force of nature. No, I haven't been at the chilli dip again. You see, I made the mistake of turning the volume up a smidgen when listening to today's recommendation. In Guns Blazin', Professor Kliq has produced an album capable of protecting the planet from rogue asteroids.

If you're a fan of big beat (hitherto believed extinct), hip-hop, trip-hop, electro and all-round catchy electronica, take my advice: this album will make your backbone slip. Professor Kliq is influenced by Bonobo, Coldcut, Amin Tobin, and loves jazz and hip-hop. He's also influenced by the 30 hours a week he works at a gas station and is understandably looking forward to studying Audio Production & Design at Columbia in Chicago. I think he can skip "Pounding Beats 101".

Guns Blazin' sounds rather like a scrumdown between the Chemical Brothers and Propellerheads. It's got beats that cascade over robust bass lines, extensively sampled greats like James Brown (and other people/bands who I won't mention) and spliced movie dialogue. It sounds like Fatboy Slim and Mylo's lovechild. It's loud, funky and fun. It sounds like a record made by an absurdly talented 21-year old bursting with energy. He says, "I'm just a kid in my bedroom."

The Prof understands when to leave a great beat alone, when to drop it, and when to drop it with a slab of stone-cold electro-hop. He also realises that there are few things better in music than adding to a rhythm until it reaches Ground Funk Zero, that place where the listener surrenders and waves his arms in the air like a happy orangutan.

Jamendo, which is otherwise near-perfect, doesn't supply individual mp3 links to wild-eyed loners like myself who want to use their own media player on the world's greatest free music blog that has a surfing catchphrase for a title. [EDIT: Incorrect. I'm an idiot. But now the player's in this post, it's staying.] Instead, I'll have to use Jamendo's rather pretty media player. Here goes nothing.

Good God, it worked. (Not in RSS feed readers, it didn't. *sigh* You'll have to visit CTW, my legion of fans.) To celebrate this small miracle, I'm going to recommend more than just my usual single track (on the understanding that they're all far north of rather good), so try these: Ode to Charles, in which Professor Kliq exploits Charles Manson's rantings and produces an atmospheric, guitar-drenched, thumping head-nodder; The Dirtiest - three and a half minutes of religion, energy, sex and drum breaks; Street Wisdom - a no-nonsense display of hip-hop wizardry with a chemical flavour, and the electro-tinged and rhythmically-adept big beat of Bust This Bust That.

The Prof's latest platter, The Scientific Method, Volume II, (now also available for free from Rec72 netlabel) ties in ambient noise and field recordings with the aforementioned innate funkiness. Its rhythms and mesmerising atmosphere made me drool like a hungry dog, but space prevents me from reviewing it. Maybe later. Anyway, it might be a redundant review; if you like Guns Blazin', you're going to scoop up everything this artist has done with a Kliq of your mouse. Ouch. Sorry.

To summarise: Guns Blazin' prised cash from my gnarled, clenched fingers. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, means it's good. If you feel the same, please think about leaving a suitable donation in Professor Kliq's charity box at Jamendo.

Now, you must excuse me. I've got a splinter.

Professor Kliq on Jamendo

Professor Kliq (homepage/blog)

Professor Kliq on MySpace

Initial Confusion

 

Just about the rarest thing in netaudio land is a good vocal. Either the singing is poor, the mix is terrible or the lyrics are execrable - often all three. Vocals are difficult, hence the preponderance of instrumental music in the music-for-nothing world.

In O.C.D.N.T.N.T., Thomas P. Karni has called on various vocal talents (please see the website for individual credits), sampled their performances, chopped them up, shoved them in a blender and then popped them into an upfront mix (courtesy of Brian Gardner) that jumps out of your earphones. Push the button and listen to Thomas P. Karni - Pull The Trigger. See what I mean?

Most of the other songs on this nine-track EP straight outta Israel have the same qualities: stuttering vocals, superbly rhythmical glitches, in-your-face bass and a distinct lack of snare drums. It's the last factor that gives the dense tunes room to breathe and enables the sampling fun to ensue. The electro synths, smash cuts and playground vocals of Ultra Static Machine, for example, pack a quick-fire musical punch. Room.303 (the "." is not silent) tells the creepy, glitchy tale of nefarious secret agent activities before Yonathan Milo's sax bursts into the room with a jolly jazz lick and serenades some gorgeous vocal harmonies into the echoing distance. The rest of O.C.D.N.T.N.T. is like that: full of unexpected little tics and foibles. There's also some crunchy electro, genre fans.

The final song, Green Pills Pink and Blue, is the free bottle of water after the nightclub exertions of the rest of the album. It's a lullaby about how society, while insisting that children must be protected from bad drugs, is quite happy to ply unruly kids with ritalin and other behavioural control medication. Imagine a particularly peevish Roald Dahl poem orchestrated by Lionel Bart, although Dahl never penned anything quite as pithy as:

Central nervous system,

Central nervous system,

Central nervous system,

Fuck.

Quite. (Tsila Piran, on vocals and lyrics, has talent.) It's a lovely refrain too, the type of tune that you'll hum to yourself before realising that you're the only one doing it and the last person in the railway carriage to notice. Oh, alright. I'll break my one-song-per-review rule. God, I'm lovely. Thomas P. Karni - Green Pills Pink and Blue.

O.C.D.N.T.N.T. is released free of charge, but if you want to say thanks or give a tip you can choose the "donate" option on Thomas's website ...and see that he still hasn't got a working payment facility, even though he does say "thank you" in advance. Bless. Let's hope a few more downloads will encourage him to get the begging bowl out. Failing that, email him and say that he's made a terrific album and should make some more.

You'll have to forgive the spacey album cover - there isn't one, so I had to improvise (with permission). Hey, the Beatles didn't put a title on the White album. It's not that I couldn't get the software to work...

*bows*

Thomas P. Karni - O.C.D.N.T.N.T. (links to individual mp3s and wavs)

Thomas P. Karni home page