B.R. Posse – Dreaming of the Bassline 6.1

Alright, this release sort of proves my theory I have about Rephlex: that they are so wedded to a particular style of music that it becomes stale. Sure, no one would argue that Jordan Muscott is doing a bad job here of referencing IDM and Deep House, but it isn’t very exciting. It sounds like the sort of thing you’d listen to once or twice and then politely forget.

Perhaps the inner two tracks (“Drop Anything But Acid” and “I want to help you Roland”) are the highlights. These actually engage the listener in some small way. At least the rehashing of familiar genres is done in a tasteful way. Having relatively memorable melodies helps of course.

I can’t exactly hate this EP. B.R. Posse did accomplish what he set out to do. Just sometimes I wish there was more ambition with this sort of thing.

Hecker – Acid in the Style of David Tudor 9.2

Hecker occupies a realm of experimental electronics that very few ever venture. Acid in the Style of David Tudor represents sort of a completion of various projects and ideas that he has been exploring through various one-off releases and art gallery presentations.

Nothing that would be considered “natural” noises is used here. Usually an artist will try to reference some sort of environmental phenomena in their work, either through snares, organ, drone, etc. This is the most pure computer music you will find and it is taken to some heady extremes.

The warning on the CD states that “Headphone use is not recommended”. Headphones are alright for listening to it, but due to the extreme three dimensional qualities of the pieces, it is much better to let the sounds roam around the room. 

“Recordings for Rephlex”, Hecker’s release for the Rephlex label, gave you some inkling of what sounds were interesting to him. “Precedence” and later the entire album of “Hecker, Holler Tracks” began his obsession with spatiotemporal confusion. With this release though, he basically saw those ideas through to their logical conclusion.

Jarring effects introduce you to the album. The “ASA” tracks serve as a way to sort of clear your head for the next onslaught. “Acid in the Style of David Tudor” tracks are the opposite; they brim with life and flirt with groove and tempo, though rarely comfortably settling with either. And the closer “Ten” pretty much mixes it all together to have a mono, bi-aural and stereo sound. That means that the sound digs deep into your ears, mine tickled upon hearing this very odd piece.

Ultimately, it is reassuring that there are artists still exploring the furthest reaches of what digital music can do. And although some may claim that Hecker’s music is self-consciously off-putting, there remains a current humor that makes the proceedings surprisingly playful.

The Tuss – Rushup Edge 8.4

Okay, Richard D. James, we know this is you. Can’t you just admit that, and let us move on with our lives of waiting for whatever album you’ll be releasing the next decade, since Rephlex has sort of fallen by the weirdo English wayside. And that “Braindance” label never really took off, sorry to say.

Let’s move on to the music contained within. I’ve never been a huge Aphex Twin fan (I thought a lot of his stuff got overrated compared to his contemporaries) but I do acknowledge that he sort of “paved the way” for a bunch of IDM artists. Here he’s probably created some of the most dance-orientated music of his career.

The construction of each song is so tight, and his funky rhythms are better realized here than on anything else I’ve heard him do. “Synthacon 9” is pretty much what I wish so much techno was. Multiple sections, all of them are flowing seamlessly into one another, with so much muscle makes this true joy. I enjoyed the “Rushup” songs as well, particularly “Rushup I Bank 12” with its fractured melody.

If you ever wanted to get somebody into Aphex Twin, I’d say this would be a perfect place. Unlike some of his earlier stuff, it hasn’t aged badly, and it doesn’t really sound like anything else of his that’s easily search able (I’m more than well-aware of some of his excellent, difficult to find tracks).