Reviews (8)

Worth the small price
This album may be an EP, but it is longer than a lot of albums out there, and this one is cheaper, too. Comprised of 5 of the many, many "Basscadet" remixes, you may think this could get repetitive. Well, think again. While the bassline in each song may be close to the same, each is so different that you wouldn't even know they were remixes of the same song. The standout track is number 2, "BEAUMONTHANNANTTWOMX". A very eery, almost scary track. Listening to this track in the dark may not have the best results.

Look, it's an EP, so if you like Autechre, or electronica in general, then you should spend the few bucks to get this. Or do what I did: place a regular order of all the stuff you want, then add this to make yourself feel like you're getting a lot for your money :)

A step up from Incunabula
This is not the best Autechre release I have heard, but I can't deny that it is very good. 5 remixes of Basscadet from Incuabula, that range from suprisingly dancefloor-friendly (BCDTMX) to beautiful ambience (Basscadubmx). What I find most interesting about this album is noticing the progression from Incunabula. Beats have become fuller and more powerful, layers of alien sounds that spiral around the melodies and intertwine between the beats.

BCDTMX: As I said, suprisingly dancey, a pounding techno beat and buzzing bass sound, accompany the trademark bleep-bloop from the original song (now drenched in reverb).

BeumontHannantTwomx: Excellent. Beumont Hannant layers all the twinkling chatterring rhythms from the original for about two minutes before absolutely beautiful ambient chords play over it. Minimal and very beautiful.

Seefeelmx: This one's weird. An ambient drone loops over and over again over Basscadets trademark bleep-bloop motif, held together with a very slow, odd beat. Not much else happens, and it's very haunting.

Tazmx: Autechre are known for making remixes that sound nothing like the original. This one starts with what sounds like the little tiny dinosaur babies from Jurrassic Park. The sound plays through the entire song, but can be barely heard over the mechanical screech that takes over the song... it's the first time they did anything like this. The rest of the instrumentation is rather jazzy. It's very interesting to say the least.

Basscadubmx: Similar to Beumont Hannant's remix, cept Autechre does it better. Slow and minimal on percussion, it focusses more on the melodies and strange sounds like Tazmx. Excellent stuff.

Overall, very good, but I would get Incunabula first.

A good start for the Ae curious
Beautiful noise from Autechre, particularly the second and fifth tracks. Other reviewers seem not to think as highly of it, but I imagine it is because this is a more accessible album than most of their others, seeming in most places to favor harmonies and tunes over their usual skittering beats. This was the first Ae album I ever *enjoyed* and since their unique soundscapes have grown on me considerably.

Audio wallpaper - as beautiful as it gets
One of the best Autechre's releases, this EP includes 5 remixes of 'Basscadet' track originally featured on 'Incunabula' album (which, in my opinion, is one of the all-time TOP3 ambient albums). The remixers like Seefeel and Beaumont Hannant add extra textures to this already great song and somehow, which is not very common to remix albums, Basscadet gives a feeling that it consists of 5 totally different tracks, not of 5 remixes of 1 track. The music is in 3 cases flowing, in 2 cases clicking (but not annoyingly) and all in all, a bit melancholic. Anyway, to make a long story short, ambient electronic music rarely get's better than on this album -- so go and get it.

Outstanding!
I cannot understand the reviewers above. This is an exceptional cd for any Ae fan. Its like an extension of Incunabula, and makes you greater appreciate the original "basscadet". The second remix is one of the most emotional pieces I've heard from Ae and I am dam impressed as always with their work. If you like any Autechre I suggest you get this, Basscadet is one of their many great tracks and these remixes are just outstanding. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Bright blue hullcinations, bubbles, twirls..
This album is just so dam good!. You can listen to it over and over and NEVER get tired of it. The trippy soundscapes and washes of synth sounds take your breath away. This music is never boring, and you love it the first time you hear it! I jsut can't get enough of this album. This would be one of the albums I would use to "define" ambient music. Obsolutly beautiful.

VERY IMPORTANT RELEASE
For anyone who has ever listened to ambient music, or even anything chilled out, this is a must buy. Jonah sharp has really mastered a phenominal sound with his debut release. Every track a staple. Great bass, melodies, and enough weird sounds to bring you back for more and MORE everytime. I have owned this album for 5 years and still love it!

Sounds dated in 2004.
Not at all "the best ambient album out there," as stated elsewhere. Rather conventional, not modern.

Not as Good as People Make out
The best track on this album is definitely Pressure, with it's morphing and shifting sounds from ambient, electronica, dense mixing and beats. The rest of the album is fairly disappointing compared to Pressure and not what I was expecting. I don't think I will buy any more by this artist but it's not as bad as other CD's I have purchased. The other good tracks are Floatilla and Ping Pong which are fairly good ambientish tracks.

It's not really an ambient CD - if your looking for that buy The Orb - Adventures in The Ultraworld, Brian Eno - Apollo, The Starseeds - A Parallel life and Future Sound of London - Lifeforms. The latter is what I term 'dark' ambient, whereas The Orb is definitely lighter, floaty and chilled out

not bad, but...
this album is enjoyable, but it's really nothing more than a watered down "Incunabula" (by Autechre) so I would check out that release first, as well as a few others... ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Unique Album
I bought this album for the song `Plastic Dreams' and I was pleasantly surprised to get a 10-minute version. The rest of the tracks are sort of out there. They are not quite for listening and they are not for dancing except for the most avant-garde clubbers. The driving beat and trance like acid is nice on 'Substance Abuse' by F.U.S.E. 'No Limit' by 2 Unlimited is the most commercial track and this mix is a good one. All in all, this is a good album, but the track flow is a little to be desired. It was worth it for the extended mix of Plastic Dreams.' ... Read more

Amazon.com

"Extremis," the truly lame single on which X-Filer Gillian Anderson makes the first of what will likely be many bad career moves, sounds and feels like electronica's death knell. The rest of Disc one here redeems the genre with fine body slams by Fluke and Chemical Bros. Disc two delves into the past with ambient trips by David Sylvian, Brian Eno, and William Orbit, among others.--Jeff Bateman ... Read more

Reviews (14)

i loved it !
this was such a great cd! i am so happy for gillian because she is succeding in everything that she does. i thought that the songs here were wonderful and that extremis was one of the best. it is so different from what everyone else is doing and she did a great job on it. the song really fit the series' atmosphere and her voice and the music sounded really sexy. i would definetly recommend this to anyone who hasn't heard it yet, and also try to check out the video. gillian is such a wonderful person and i look up to her so much.

Heaven Sent... I first heard this in 1998
it was out in double cassette then. the only reason I'm writting this review is because of "cdnow's" review. HA HA! nothing but top reviews. Shows how out of touch this guy is!

Anyway... the music.... loved all but two tracks.... the salsa and mesq. was a little monotonous as was??? whatever.

his cd is in my top 10 of the 1500 cd's in my collection. I've been into electronica since 1988 and it really doesn't get much better than this.... the next best thing being a live show... check out Ladytron, they are the next beig thing in electronica... 70's mellow acid beets meets 2003!

Werd to kyla.... david from Vancouver Canada

Very Good!!!
If you are a techno fan, then this c.d is a must-have!!! I have to admit that I only checked out this c.d because I am a huge Gillian Anderson fan but after listening to it I totally forgot she compiled the songs and even sang one herself.

I really enjoyed listening to it and am now a fan of techno. My reason for this review is that if you are not a Gillian Anderson fan, then you don't have to put down this c.d or ignore it because you see her name on the cover. It has a lot of great material and any techno fan will love it. And if you are a Gillian Anderson fan, then more power to ya because this is one more thing that you can enjoy of hers!

Well Worth Your Time!
If you like techno/electronica, you are going to love this album. There is a good cross-sampling of songs that give you a flavor of the artists featured. I ended up buying other CDs after hearing some of the selections featured here. I first heard this CD compilation from a friend at work who shares my taste in music and had to buy a copy of my own. I didn't realize that it was compiled by Gillian Anderson until I came to Amazon.com to buy it. Don't base your purchase decision on what some of the "reviewers" have to say about their personal feelings for Ms. Anderson, the artists and selections featured on this compilation are great. If you don't believe me, then sample the selections for yourself on this page.

Why?
I think the only possible way to react to this release is: "Who Cares"?

Who cares what Gillian Anderson listens to? Is she famous for her friggin 'taste'? I don't think so.

What's next? Assorted Chocolates compiled by Gillian Anderson? Swimsuit hunks compiled by Gillian Anderson?

Gimme a break. I'm dying to know how much it cost the record company to stick her name on a friggin mix-tape.

Buy this CD if you like the music, but I can't for the life of me figure out why her name's on it. ... Read more

Amazon.com

With 12 tracks of lunacy, mayhem, and sheer beauty, Tom Jenkinson's 1996 debut as Squarepusher remains one of the few must-have records of the electronica revolution. Though Jenkinson builds his tracks around his remarkable fusion-inspired fretless bass playing, the album initially sounds like a study in maniacally intricate drum solos and patterns, themselves built from a few Roland drum machines. But closer listening reveals a keen intellect at work. Jenkinson has no interest in either the repetitive drum patterns most junglists prefer or their vapid soundscapes. Instead his songs douse you in rhythm and melody. The acoustic Brazilian guitar of "Squarepusher Theme" is soon devoured by a steaming, staccato drum groove, the track ultimately resolving itself as a kind of 21st-century Latin jazz epic. "Tundra" recalls a battery of mad insects destroying a caterpillar; "UFOs over Leytonstone" creates a slow death rumba; "Kodack" revels in glistening beats and streamlined and manic synths, a sign of Squarepusher to come. "Goodnight Jade" is the album's most unusual track, a lush, ambient drone of lovely bass harmonics and a mouselike melody, showing Jenkinson to be a composer of surprising weight and depth. Squarepusher would make records harder, more intense, and more spectacular, but none more musical than Feed Me Weird Things. --Ken Micallef ... Read more

Reviews (31)

Squarepusher's Best Overall Album?
I've been gorging on Squarepusher lately, so it took some time to really appreciate the individual albums. This one, after several listens has finally charmed me! It is, I believe, the best overall album. Everything's here, from the swingy jazz tunes to moody electronica to drill'n'bass. And, even in a short burst of whimsy, there's "Smedley's Melody" which is maybe Squarepusher's silliest track to date. "Squarepusher Theme" is fantastic after a few listens. "North Circular" has some of the plush toms (I visualize tubes for some reason) from "Conumber" (Burning'n Tree album). "Theme From Ernest Borgnine" is, like the title suggests, earnest. It's a fast (and rare) techno treat with a gripping melody. This is the stand-out track. The rest will require some familiarity from repeated listens to involve you further.

Squarepusher rarely disappoints, but stays unpredictable.

Something for everyone
Feed Me Weird Things is probably the best all-around Squarepusher album there is. Musically it's the most diverse thing Jenkinson's done; there's a lot of jazz influence here, as with his other work, but there's also quite a bit of percussive-focused tracks, like "Dimotane Co." and the amazing "North Circular." "Theme to Ernest Borgnine" is simply gorgeous, and "Squarepusher Theme" is probably my favorite Squarepusher track, featuring some incredible fretless bass soloing (played live by Jenkinson himself) along with the trademark Squarepusher breakbeats. Feed Me Weird Things is an excellent introduction to Squarepusher, as it covers a lot of ground - there's something for everyone on this disc. Recommended.

miles davis changed jazz once, squarepusher did it twice
what miles davis was trying to do 30 years ago, squarepusher finally did. Squarepusher changed the way we look at jazz and at music in general. If you want to buy a cd for historical purposes buy Burning 'n' tree. If you want a cd that will change your life buy feed me weird things. You will not know what hit you.

Superb
Between his somewhat dancy beats and his hardcore jazz breakdowns this has got to one of the best cd's that i have ever heard. This cd, if you read on the back, was soley responsible for the Richard D. James Album. Aphext Twin gave all the credit to Tom Jenkinson and then latter, Aphex Twin got all the credit for IDM. (...) I don't think anyone could touch Tom's style. Allot of people have recreated what Aphex Twin has done. Tom Jenkinson is by far the best bass player of my generation (and thats with Les Claypool taken into consideration). Buy this cd for yourself, your grandmother, your mailman. Everyone should have it.

Nfor the faint of heart
I have a love/hate relationship with Tom Jenkinson/Squarepusher. I find his albums wildly uneven. Along with Hard Normal Daddy, this is probably his most accessible album. There is still about 4 or 5 tracks on this album i just can't enjoy. But the good ones (squarepusher theme, tundra, theme from ernest borgnine, kodak) are so mind blowingly brilliant, it balances out. If you like experimental dnb jazz fusion like squarepusher i highly recommend Amon Tobin. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

The inside of your brain
This is the newest release from Plastikman. Recently I've gone back to my first love of techno music and was reading on this artist - Richie Hawtin in his Plastikman disguise - to see what was said. Mainly good stuff all round

I decided to pick this one up ( considering it was the cheapest of his releases ( and new as well )) and I have to admit at first I thought " What's all the fuss about this guy then? Because it was difficult because on first listen there's barely anything to hold your attention. And what's more there's only one bass and a drum you'll hear for the whole album. Not very exciting really is it?

Well if you dig deeper into it, if your patience can stay with it, it has more to it. Nokia's mobile coming in on one track ( he makes it sound like if it's coming in on an ocean ) and if you listen VERY closely you'll hear a melody but it is hidden so deep beneath the bassline that most people will think it doesn't exist.

Oh yes and the vocals......well if you can think of a stalker phoning you with his voice distorted then you pretty much get the idea. It adds to the whole effect of what he's actually saying.

Apparently this was recorded when Richie was on the verge of a mental breakdown and given to this I can fully understand this by listening to music. It's quite possibly the most difficult album you'll ever experience because you feel that there's nothing going on really but there's so much more just hidden beneath the surface.

Give it a go but give it time - it's not something you're going to fall in love with instantly but if and when it does it becomes hypnotized. But that's for you to decide

Disconnect your brain
Closer picks up right where Consumed left off. Nocturnal feel, dark and haunting atmosphere, minimal to the extreme... enough to get lost not only in the music but your head as well. But through the infinite sea of minimalism, familiar Plastikman sounds act as a beacon back to the shoreline of reality. And in Closer we're graced with a previously unheard of element in the Plastikman project -- Hawtin's voice.

Tracks like 'Ask Yourself' and 'Headcase' give a good feel of the new sounds on Closer, while tracks like 'Ping Pong' and 'I Don't Know' contain the familiar feel of earlier works. It's the little things that count on Closer, like the Nokia phone ring laid in the disorienting 'Slow Poke'.

The previous Plastikman works feel like Hawtin took what was in his head and brought it out for us in terms we might understand. On Closer, it feels like Hawtin shows a new sense of vulnerability and lets us see what it's like for him directly on the inside, whether you comprehend it or not. From the pictures on the linear notes to Hawtins voice itself, this album does exactly what it's title says; brings us closer.

worth every penny, despite its downfalls
It would be a lie to call this complicated or to say that it took much talent. It is extremely minimal acid ambient techno. It's not immediately accessible, but ya gotta give credit for how awesome it sounds. I love the INCREDIBLY deep bass on I Don't Know and the overall sound of the album. It could be improved if it progressed a little faster and were a bit more unique, but it's still awesome music.

The packaging is a lot more clever than the music
Ughh...

I read tons of reviews on this guy's latest piece. 'Closer' was supposed to be one of the most innovative and exciting albums of the year.

Well...after a half hour of what sounded like scratches and a tack-hamer hitting a frying pan, I turned the album off. Yick! It was on internet auction 3 hours after I bought it.

Good riddance to bad noise.

Further from the rest.
Closer continues the legacy of his previous works as with consumed, sheet one, artifacts etc. Though the substantial time gap from the previous releases, Plastikman pursues into a deeper alter ego from Richie Hawtin as the dance floors of the world knows him by. Perhaps an escapade from being a DJ, Plastikman blurs the boundary of an artist, musician and producer. BTW How many other artist care to package the artworks for the album inside out?

With closer one gets closer to the dark terrrains of his mind with minimal repetitive break patterns, delay paces, threaded with faint audible tunes minus the dance factor. Laboured from the signature numbers with the decks over the years, be warned as with most of his earlier albums, Closer is richly textured with a disturbing psychological effect to the listeners. His work will transformed one to a solitary journey of soul searching and the unfamiliar depths with electro music.

Closer is what the blues period is to Picasso. Bitches Brew to
Miles Davis. Broken to Trent Reznor, where forlorn creativity remain resistant to an eroding scene of commercial crap. One can only hope he will remain closer to his vision while dwelling in this dark side. ... Read more

Album Details

'virus with Shoes' EP Track Mixing a More Hip Hop Sound with their Trademark Electronics. 'receive Tactical Support' is a Limited Vinyl Only Collection of Remixes of Tracks from 'stay Down' and 'bag of Blue Sparks' EP. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

IT HITS...
Every Two Lone Swordsmen release has been excellent...but for some reason this EP is my fav. They manage to have more of a hip-hop/ambient feel to this, instead of their trademark electro sound. 'A Virus with Shoes' actually sounds like some of Ninja Tune's better moments. Words can't really describe this surreal release, you must hear for your self. Peace

A pleasant departure from Stay Down
Upon listening to the Two Lone Swordsmen's latest LP, Stay Down, I thought that some of the bubbly, rhythmic, underwater-dub elements of several of the up-tempo songs seemed like they were almost ready to move into the more distinct, danceable realm of hip-hop. Sure enough, Two Lone Swordsmen's latest brilliant EP, A Virus With Shoes, balances deliberate and funky hip-hop beats with electro-bleeps, catchy melodies, and very cool samples. The first track, "Brother Foster Through the Phones", leaps out of a murky electronic intro into a rhythmic, electro hip-hop instrumental. It's a fantastic start to an EP that plays off of roughly the same template for each song - which is no bad thing. Many tracks are reminiscent of the hip-hoppy Boards of Canada material, without the retro, 70's AM radio influence. A delightful EP from two talented musicians, A Virus With Shoes is highly recommended, even for the inflated import price (for us the USA)

Where can I get a hover donkey?
I could by no means be described as an expert in the field of electronica (Autechre and Boards of Canada representing the boundaries of my explorations in this particular direction); however, I can say one thing with conviction about A Virus With Shoes: in contrast with the murky ultramarine textures of Two Lone Swordsmen's previous record, Stay Down, the former is all about, well, beats. Deep, wholesome beats, to be precise, embellished with samples from the realm of strange and eerie dreams.

Where some have described Stay Down as an underwater album, for me A Virus With Shoes is a document of night and claustrophobic childhood fears of the dark: wherein Keith Tenniswood and Andrew Weatherall have created a record not unlike what I imagine to be the electronica equivalent of H. R. Giger's disturbing visions of a world gone mad. Brother Foster Through The Phones opens with a quaint yet somehow disquieting voice declaiming"Hello, Mr Hitchcock!" through a flurry of noise before settling into a languid yet uneasy groove and It Hits, while sampling the rather naff sounds of Electronic, awakes disturbing emotions that I don't recall feeling since my early-childhood fear of the guy who paints numbers on people's backs in Sesame Street. I guess that it doesn't help that I play often this record while falling asleep.

A Virus With Shoes is a darkly incandescent work that, while stripped back to the bare essentials, in some ways harks back to the lush grooves of Two Lone Swordsmen's classic The Fifth Mission (Return To The Flightpath Estate) (1996). Who needs a nightlight with A Virus With Shoes on the stereo? ... Read more

Reviews (6)

50,000,000 Headaches Can Be Wrong
The only reason I didn't fall asleep during the highly repetitive and washed out tunes of "50,000,000 DJ's ..." is because I was on the road.
Okay, repetition is a trademark of "techno" cd's, but when the sounds repeated combine ancient squaking horns and leaf raking, I find my patience dwindling rapidly. As I bribed my ears to take in the blandness of the energy-less electro sounds, various singers somehow moved along with the music, adding in a mixture of hip-hop rapping, drolling grunge, and spastic turn-table-lapsing word repeating (such as "body movin" repeated possibly 80 million times on one of the tracks).
I regretted almost every second of this album. There are a few moments when a slick beat gets moving with a few complementary zip/zap fillers in the background, and this pulls my rating up for a total of two stars. Unfortunately, the joyous beats often turned sour when rough transitions with awkward, cracked electric-whistles or the ramblings of an anti-groove vocalist came to play. On top of all this, it seems like the whole recording process was filtered through an oversize sea sponge - not much bass depth or tone richness can be detected.
I recommend this CD pack if you have some strong headache medicine.

Over 2 hours of non-stop joy!
This double cd set is a wonderful collection of some of the finest mixes out there. Some of the biggest names are on here including: Fatboy Slim, Moby, The Beastie Boys, and the Chemical Brothers, just to name a few. Listening to this CD is like having a DJ in your own home, with over 2 hours of some of the finest mixes out there. I love this compilation and can't recommend it enough!

Body Movin'
I initially got this CD for the remix of Body Movin' because I'm a big Beastie Boys fan. I'm glad I got this compilation becacause I discovered a lot of good DJs that are on it (DJ Spooky, Leftfield are great!) A friend remommnded it to me and sent me a link to hear some tracks and I was like, OK they sound pretty cool and Body Movin's on - guess I'll give it shot. So I did and it rocks! Been playing it on my car on my way to school everyday and I get lots of good comments on it. Good stuff- I certainly recommend it!

And they are right!
As a part-time amateur DJ myself, I must say this cd is amazing. This cd is superb, whether you want to rock 'da house' or to simply liven up your party at home. With great names such as Asian Dub Foundation (which opens the cd), Primal Scream, BT, Chemical Brothers and Fatboy Slim (need I say more about these two?), Massive Attack and Moby and his "Natural Blues" hit among others, you are in for a real treat. It's a double cd, so it's double fun. I often find these "djs compilations" rather weak, but this one changed my mind 180 degrees. I'm eagerly waiting for the volume 2.
50,000,000 DJ's surely got it right and now they're 50,000,001!

Phat Fatboy Remixes of "Body Movin" and other cuts
Overall, this CD is fantastic. It's one of the best DJ compilation out there and it has some good and hard-to-find remixes by Fat Boy Slim. The remix of the Beasties' "Body Movin" is kikin'! Way to go Slim! Moby has a good remix as well. There are some other tracks from DJs I didn't know before which are very cool....especially that Kid Koala track. I'd recommend this to anyone who is seriously into the DJ culture or who wants a good intro to it. Great for parties. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Seamless marriage of rock and electro
This album brings back memories of the glory days of Thrill Jockey records, when Trans Am and Tortoise made instrumental rock exciting again. _Specifics_ is more beat-propelled than Tortoise, and more tuneful than Trans Am, with songs that actually cross over into the realm of the danceable.

Unabashedly melodic with touches of indie melancholy, this album goes down easily and a little too quickly, leaving this listener hungry for more.

Pretty good.
So you really liked New Order circa 1981/82 when they were starting to really see what drum machines could do. They put out swell numbers like "Everything's Gone Green" and you were like "Whoa - that sweet." But now, over 20 years later, you want to hear more music like that, it's just that everything is so techno sounding that the sweet purity of what New Order was doing has been forgotten.

Enter Midwest Product, a band out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. They now just how to make those beats. They know how to use simple melodies to full effect. They even know how to play an occasional guitar that sounds ever so much like the smooth bass riffs of New Order's Peter Hook.

After the first song, the overt New Order influence dissipates a bit, and we are left to ponder the remainder of this all-instrumental album. And it is pretty smooth. It sits their, gurgling about with simple uptempo beats and squishy noises providing a backdrop for the occasional burst of guitar. Don't let me lead you into believing that this album is totally retro or completely low-tech synth. There are times when you can catch things reminiscent of bands like Icelandic synth experimentalists Mum, and the live drums kicks in to keep things down to earth.
I'm listening to Specifics as I'm typing this, and it's absolutely perfect music to collect ones thoughts and to write. It sits far enough in the background so as to not interfere, but is compelling enough that I find I'm tapping my leg to the beats. Really cool stuff. ... Read more

Album Description

Electronica, ranging from uptempo dance tracks through downtempo chill-out songs. See the following equation: Moby + (Africa x 21st cent.) + (Fatboy Slim) = shinjuku zulu Most tracks have a vocal element, whether it's with lyrics or with tribal or ethnic chants. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Pack your undies, you're going on a trip!
Heard this CD cranked up in a buddie's ride and just ordered five discs. Listened to all the tracks and felt like I thumbed my way through Kuala Lumpur, hung out in the back of a sweaty ancient mosque, then danced my a$$ off in a dank Toronto underground club. Can't really explain the trip. Just know that I want to go back. Been informed that those in the know call this act "The Ku Lu Crew". If their tunes like "Brando" or "Dervish" don't get your heart pumpin', call the ambulance. You flat-lined. PS: I feel like a star struck girl sending a love letter to David Cassidy.

shinjukuZULU=TribalTranceDanceO-Matic
A friend lent me this CD with a smile on his face. I think he knew I was going to like it... Alot!

At its best, fine art is supposed to enrich our lives and inspire emotion. shinjukuZULU accomplishes this with distinctive and stylish elegance. Each track inspires and I find myself listening over and over. I could tell you about the harmonious vocals, catchy riffs and intense drums but it just doesn't convey the subtlety found in this crafted work. Borrow it, Beg it, or Buy it. You'll just have to hear it, so that you can feel it. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

cool, if you like school and pool
great beats, they get a little boring sometimes. good background music and music to edit footage of your friends eating pie.

Define this please...
Something between a child's prank and the next world domination scheme, Cex pulls together a more clean cut version of his widely acclaimed "Role Model" and gives birth to new versions of electronic music. This piece is well crafted and is one of those types of CD's that takes a few times after the bizarre impression that it first leaves you with to actually understand. The song "First for Wounds" is without a doubt his greatest work, and is accompanied afterward by an epilogue song which perfectly depicts it's fashion.

original, fun
Anyone whose sick of pretentious, arty electronic music will like this. Anyone who's into hip hop but wants to dig deeper into electronic music will like this. Though I still prefer his first album, this is a great follow-up, and Cex has another 2 albums coming out this year! The other reviewers have said more about this album than I could, but don't get me wrong, I love it!

Oh, and for the record, Amazon put the wrong image up for the album cover. The building falling over, that's the cover of an Electric Company album. Cex's cover is a bit wierder and more disturbing, but it's not really meant to be taken seriously.

Wow
I had begrudgingly went to an emo concert. It was free after all, and since my friends weren't willing to go, I felt it was better than sitting home watching television. Truth is, I'm somewhat allergic to emo rock. I'm glad I did go however because for the very opening act - a single person took the stage. A white goofy looking kid, who started rhyming over laptop beats. I initially groaned in horror. Another MC Paul Barman trying to impress indie emo kids who probably buy one hip-hop album every blue moon. But as I listened, I thought, "He's not a horrible MC, but he's not great either." But one thing was sure, the beats were inventive and complex, and by the end of the act, this guy who had called himself Cex had caught my attention. I dug out the [$$$] and bought "Oops, I Did It Again". As I listened to it on the way home, it suddenly started feeling like a very well spent [$$$]. First off, he left off his rhyming and it's more of an "IDM" electronica album than a hip-hop album. Some very creative stuff: guitars, rhythmic glitch pop, hilarious skits. Cex is definitely one of those discoveries, that you'll be rooting for.

A fabulous sophomore disc...
The Tigerbeat6 label is suddenly pushing its way to the forfront of American electronic music, and that fact almost certainly owes in part to the efforts of co-founder Rjyan Kidwell aka cex. With an album like this, it's easy to see why. After a rather unexpcted near-acappella start the album kicks into high gear with "Eleven Million Dollars Worth Of Bearer Bonds", a gorgeously intricate, unrelentingly powerful, and unflinchingly melodic IDM track that clearly showcases his progress from earlier efforts. From there, the album ranges from subtle ambiance a la boards of canada (First For Wounds) to harsher drillnbass more akin to new aphex twin (I Don't Think You Do Sin, Julia). But despite nods to other masters, Cex has a skill all his own and it pays off in trumps here, on a vibrant original disc which I know I'll be listening to for a long while to come.

nate
ndorr@middlebury.edu ... Read more

Reviews (4)

This is the disc Mouse on Mars wants to make . . .
unfortunately µ-ziq beat them to it! 'grape nut beats part 2' sounds like a remix of MoM's 'actionist respoke' and is 'mouse bums' a slight dig at them? After all it has been two years since their last release of new material. Like MoM's 'idiology', 'bilious paths' is a chock full of static filled drill'n'bass, chopped up vocals and calming melodies. Thankfully, 'bilious paths' is a far cry from the classical string orchestrations of 'royal astronomy'. That's a very good thing because this is absolutely brilliant!!

'on/off' is like a messed up take on Prince from its funky drill'n'bass beats to its chopped up r&b vocals with their naughty refrain of 'Take them panties off.' I like the counter parts of 'siege of antioch' and 'fall of antioch'. The former is an exuberant assault of drill'n'bass, the latter a dirge of distortion. 'aec merlin' is a soothing moment to the disc, about as soothing as downtempo drill'n'bass can get and 'meinheld' is an awesome drum'n'bass workout.

One of best releases I've bought all year.

welcome back
Well, three and a half stars actually. Personally I'm happy to see a very talented man releasing a good album among all the crap these days. He's still the master in producing melodies and rhythms that sound perfectly accidental and he's doing it better than Aphex Twin now. The problem is that there's nothing new. He's making the exact type of music he did seven or eight years ago. Nothing evolving, he stays put where he once was although that being a bad thing is arguable anyway.
My favourite tracks are the calmer ones with stronger melodic structure, namely 'Octelcogopod' and 'Aec Merlin'.
I recommend this album to people who are already familiar with mu-ziq, it's like a warm welcome from an old friend, but if you haven't heard about him before, I suggest you to start with 'In pine effect'.

Pretty disappointing.
I've been a long time fan of µ-ziq. I don't know about anyone else, but take a quick hit from Lunatic Harness/Brace Yourself, and then put this on. There is no comparison. Much of this cd just seems like the regular "its crazy electronic music/madness style" filler. No substance, little originality at this point.

Great follow-up after 4 years absent!
Okay first off, I would say this is mu-ziq's second best album by my taste. The songs on this album have more structure than tango and vectif. I do like tango and vectif, however it meanders and it's not quite as composition-like as I would want it to be. Bilious paths is more toward the lunatic harness sound that I like. This albums sounds almost like a cross between squarepusher and mu-ziq maybe with a little aphex twin. The beats are a little more frenetic this time. The songs seem pretty varied too. My fave is song #2 cause it's the most melodic--a great tune with a cool beat. Song 3 is just the same, but a little subpar to #2. Song 6 is very hardcore techno influenced, thus beat-heavy. 7 and 9 are laidback and beautiful while 8 is more rhythm-driven, while still great in itself. 10 meanders, but seems kinda mind-expanding, 11 is pure melody, 12 is a nice wrap up, and 1 is an adaquate starter--not great, but dancefloor-esque and well-enough put together. 4 sounds very orchestral. 5 is okay but doesn't really seem to stand out. Well, there ya have it! If you like lunatic harness, pick this up! You won't be disappointed ... Read more

Reviews (11)

last track
the last track has a short bit of dialog in german, otherwise it is as described below. if you know german it is quite interesting. one of the members of mouse on mars describes what he believes consciousness is, using "die innere orange" ("the inner orange") as a metaphor. using his definition of something through which we make "sense" of our senses and experience the world, the first several minutes of near-blank white noise contrasts wonderfully with the last few containing something like beautiful music so distorted and garbled that it is nearly unrecognizable as such.

Mouse on Mars Makes Me Happy
This is my fav. of the all the Mouse albums. Such wonderful, thematic music. If anyone thinks that electronic is dry, unemotions, and not melodic- listen to this one! They have such a talent of making bleeps and blops (which is basically what they are about, bleeps and blops) and turning them into real songs. Try it out. They make me happy and when i've seen them play live- it seems they make themselves happy too!

Beware though, these guys know how to market and sell albums- i've been dupped into buying a seeming new release and only found it was a re-named release of an import i've bought before....

Tiki Bar Electronica
As a rule, I'm not a huge fan of either Polynesian-derived exotica nor the bleepy electronica practiced by Mouse on Mars on other albums. More rhythmic than most electronica, and more varied than most exotica, "Iaora Tahiti" far exceeds the sum of its parts. I can't image better background music for the post-modern Tiki Bar.

i really wanted to hate this
I've steered clear of Mouse On Mars for years now simply because I think their name, CD titles and cover art is a bit cheesy (Vulvaland? Sheesh, as a gay man that title is not appealing) and if that's the case then what will their music sound like?? I resisted buying Iaora Tahiti although the price was cheap, friends recommended it to me and the reviewers here seem to unanimously agree it's their best release. I just couldn't get past their name or the cheesy psychedelic cover. Then one day, with money to burn, I went to the music store to buy the new flanger CD but the release date was pushed back. The new aphex twin wouldn't be released for a couple of weeks and I had money to burn so I said what the hey and I bought it. I tried my hardest to resist liking the music as it slowly unfolded around me. It seemed impossible that MOM could sound as good as they did. I listened to the disc once through and then put it away. Strangely, the next day I found myself humming an unfamiliar melody and realized it was MOM. I plucked the CD off my shelf, put it back in my disc player and there it has remained for the past month.

I'm a newly recruited fan of MOM now. I can't say how enjoyable I find this CD to be.

Omnibuzz sounds like crickets in outer space; kompod and Saturday night worldcup fieber are great upbeat tracks that transcend what dance music is all about; kanu is wonderful, I can't sit still for a minute when I listen to it and papa, antoine is my favorite track. It's perfect in every aspect, in every detail. A spacy, floaty interplanetary trip across the dreamscape of your mind with that wonderful melody that kicks in halfway through. I hear a little bit of the orb, future sound of london, orbital and plone in mouse on mars (well really only schunkel reminds me of plone with that xylophone percussion). However, I must agree with some of the reviewers on this page about die innere orange. It really is a wasted track at 12+ minutes. It sounds like someone accidentally hit the record button in the studio, simply recording white noise and tonal variations thereof while having a brief conversation in german before realizing the record was on, stupidly pushing buttons before finding the off button. SNORE.

However, on a side note after enjoying this disc as much as I did, I purchased their lastest release Idiology. What happened? Certainly it can't be the same group that produced this lovely dreamy piece of music. So now I'm wavering again as far as my feelings towards MOM. Maybe Idiology will grow on me but in any case, Iaora Tahiti was a pleasant surprise. I would recommend it anyonE looking for something fresh and new in the world of electronica.

This one put Mouse on Mars on the map.
Iaora Tahiti is Mouse on Mars' second full length, and they shortened the tracks down from the 7-8 ones found on the previous release 'Vulvaland'. Mouse on Mars' electronic manipulations cannot be matched for their ingenuity, catchiness, and overall presentation. On Iaora Tahiti they manage to represent many fields of electronic music, all the while making the release a solid, consistent effort. They manage to incorporate elements of dub, ambience, electro, and drum and bass on this release. They can get you going with the jungle-style hyper bass of 'Bib' and suddenly chill you out with downtempo atmospherics of 'Hallo'. They can incorporate many different ideas and mesh them together on the perfect 'Schlecktron' and they use a variety of sound sources.

In my opinion, this release is around 55 minutes, and not 67 because the last track is a complete throwaway. Being barely audible and quite unimaginative and senseless. Andy Toma and Jan St. Werner should have skipped putting this track on as it's complete filler.

Iaora Tahiti is a great release, and it shows you the highest available end of electronic sounds, beats and textures mixed quite effectively. A great place to start in electronic listening music, and probably Mouse On Mars' best starting point for folks interested in them. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Confield's name and its digitally dissected geometrical artwork are illustrative analogies to Autechre's working methods. Sean Booth and Rob Brown use specially developed software to shape, slice, and dice beats and sounds. Despite the English duo's past as acid-house-loving hip-hop kids, the music they make now is resolutely undanceable. In fact, anyone who tries to move to Confield's nine tracks is cruising for a date with the chiroprator. Over and over Autechre render their rhythms irregular by cutting segments out of a pattern or by putting them into reverse. They aren't completely averse to melody, and the opening track "VI Scose Pose" proves that they can compose a lovely one. More often, however, their focus is on wedding fractured rhythms and intriguing textures, like the bell-like sound waves that pulse through the transmission-trouble beats of "Parhelic Triangle." --Bill Meyer ... Read more

Reviews (79)

a musical puzzle
I have owned and loved all of Autechre's albums (except Chiastic Slide - haven't heard) and one thing common about all of them is they took a few listens to realize what it was they were aiming for -but once you do 'get' it, the music seems to form in your mind's eye a very real, adventurous quality kind of like those 'magic eye' photos. It just seems like noise until you finally see it's a very lush, fully realized sonic world that they've put into a record. The type of simulated 'sonic world' they've made with 'Confield' is dark, dense, sinister, disorienting but interesting to explore at the same time.

But I'm not sure what to think of this album.

I liked their other stuff because it was physical, chunky and funky (in its own stange way) but 'Confield' is so far in the deep end of random noise that it could take many, many listens to warm up to it.

I'm not even going to attempt to describe what it sounds like. All the usual words used to describe autechre can be used here: alien, whirrs, clicks, blips, clanking, amorphous, melodic, inhuman, static, hiss, blah blah... The best I can do is it kind of sounds like 'ep7' seeping into a terrifying nightmare of H.R. Giger proportions, or you may think it sounds really techno and upbeat...I don't know. You just have to listen to it.

Ae have always intuitively and brilliantly tread the fine line between alien and soulful, satisfying the intellectual and emotional parts of the mind at the same time. It's like it triggers some kind of primitive 'AAH! SCARY NOISE!!' tripwire in your brain, only to seduce and bewitch your soul at the same time and make you feel comfortable. And I think they really have done it again with this album, even though you might think you've been conned into buying some kind of arbitrary logorithmic sound software test run bulls**t at first. But there really is substance to this music, it just doesn't reveal itself at first and will probably annoy the hell out of you and everyone that hears it when you first listen to it.

Just like 'Autechre' (aka 'lp5') did with me the first few times I listened to it. But don't get me wrong, this isn't nearly as accessible as 'lp5'. So if you're new to Autechre buy something else first. If you have heard other stuff by them and you feel game for something even more edgy, exciting and daring then buy Confield.

But this album does deserve to be heard even though it might totally baffle you.

Incredible, yet hard to access music
After reading most of people's comments about this album as well as some reviews explaining the weirdness occuring in this album, I knew I had to check it out. I was a bit familiar with Autechre, having bought Tri Repetae++ some time ago, and it didn't leave me much of a impression at first. However, Confield completely changed my opinion about Autechre. It is really one of the most out-there albums I ever heard and I just keep wondering how they've managed to come up with such music. It's chaotic, dense yet incredibly beautiful noise at the same time. Melodies are sparse, as the album mostly focuses on abstract sound textures and complex drum programming, but the results are amazing nonetheless.

VI Scose Poise features a dislocated metallic sound playing around, settling the song's beat alongside some other glitch noises and 2 minutes later, a quiet melody arises from the mix. Pen Expers is one menacing hip-hop venture which is dominated by harsh, pounding drum beats in which a melody slowly forces it's way through, after which it ends through another whacked-out drum workout.

Parhelic Triangle, which has to be my favorite song of the whole album, features a throbbing bassline which shadows eerie synth melodies and cascading bells which echoes through the bassline. It acheives with the bassline twisting itself way beyond the pattern it had established with the song's debut. Truly beautiful song. Uviol, which has to be the album's most quiet song, uses it's percussion and synth pads to create an icy alien world.

The only reason the album loses a star would be for the last track, Lentic Catachresis. The song starts out in a pretty good way, with a sparse yet present melody in which dislocated, frentic drums play. However, near the 3:30 mark, the song truly loses it's focus and acheives itself into a unpenetrable glitch wall that lasts for 5 whole minutes with little variation. This is the only song that I don't understand at all on the album.

I guess I must be weird, considering that it's that album that made me an Autechre fan. After I listened to it, I've started liking Tri Repetae++ a lot more as I suddently was able to notice the subtle progressions within the tunes on it. An album that definitely deserves a listen, especially if you're a fan of abstract art and accept to have your views about what art is about being challenged. Great CD!

The Zen of music
Having read most of the previous reviews of this album, the recurring verdict seems to be "abstract", "challenging", "not for the uninitiated". Granted, this is most definitely not your average mainstream pop chart fodder, quite the contrary - this is among the most rewarding music I have encountered, and Confield is my favourite Autechre release so far, including Draft 7.30.

A common misconception among the Autechre naysayers seems to be the idea of "getting" the music of Autechre, on the analogy of solving a complex equation or understanding a mathematical theorem (on a somewhat unrelated note, I detest the "Intelligent Dance Music" label - it is bigoted intellectual vanity at its very worst). I can understand the frustration when listening to the music in this manner, since you are searching for something that does not exist. There is nothing to grasp or understand, at least not on the conscious level. This is most definitely not music to rub your analytical, mathematical ego with. But just sit down and *listen* with an empty mind, and sooner or later your subconsciousness will put the pieces together for you behind the curtains. When it happens, it will all make sense.

Indeed, the music of Confield is the most Zen-like music I have ever heard. In my humble opinion, you cannot fully fathom the soundscapes within without letting go of your thoughts, focusing on the music here and now. And now. And now. It might require some discipline of the mind, but the results are rewarding to say the least. Go ahead, give it a try.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said that architecture is frozen music. If so, then Autechre is architecture set free. Confield is truly a marvellous piece of work. Listen with an open mind and you will be rewarded in abundance.

More Evil Robot Music.
What gets me is how bands like Autechre tend to compel people to write big long technical descriptions about what the music is doing, which, in a sense, misses the point: one does not really need to know what a brick is made of to discover what it feels like to be hit by one on the noggin. So.

If you've kept up with Autechre since "Tri Repeatae", you know to expect: Evil robot music. This is the sound of two evil robots, called Sean and Rob, plotting to take over the world in order to convert it into a giant space antenna designed to transmit evil robot communications to the evil robot homeworld on Crux Epsilon V or something about some evil robot purpose that defies human imagination. I mean, that to me is a lot more spooky and nihilstic than what you might get from, well, the Sisters of Mercy.

There's a certain bounce to the first couple of tracks, so that you could almost dance to this. If you had seven legs and a peculiar hypersense for rhythm like your usual evil robot. Personally, listening to this puts me to sleep, but then that might be the ambient aspect coming through, though it's well hidden along all the cybernetic coruscations.

All-in-all, I like it, even though most of it's so abstracted from conventional musical forms that it doesn't lodge in the mind too well - so it could be a fresh experience with each listen! That's a large part of Autechre's almost ineffible charm, I think.

Other-Worldly Meter Reading
When my friends get bored with what they're listening to and want to hear something original (and by original I mean that they've played out most other types of EBM, electonica, 4/4s, and need something altogether different), I always buy them Autechre CD to try on for size. The reason that works so well is because Autechre can be likened "noise pioneers," building better electronic sandcastles for the kid that has everything and still wants more, and they do through means that aren't easily manipulated. They take experimental portions of layering, hinging backgrounds of beat onto curtains of effect, and they birth articles of clothing no album I've owned before has ever worn. From the early mornings where they crafted ambient sounds to the experimental "now" that puts them totally ahead in the arms race, its really something "unique" (a word I try not to use much because of sounds like these) to form an addiction around.

Confield is an album that isn't going to be for everyone and you shouldn't feel bad if you can't get into it. I actually suffered that feeling when I first picked it up, noting some constriction in my mind and some angst in my wallet as I listened on, thinking that this couldn't be something I paid good money for. While we don't always realize it, its oftentimes hard to set aside preconceived notions of where noise ends and music begins, and I found myself not really liking this album at first because of this mainstreamed "sound backwash effect." The way the beat forms and the way the meter reads is odd and odd denotes fear, and that foreign element of sound sitting outside of my comfort zone threw me off at first.
In the beginning, I thought that there was only noise and the album experienced a time when the shelf was the only world it knew.
Later, however, I gave it another chance, it calling my name and begging me to listen because I love so many of Autechre's masterpieces, so I answered it and found myself actually "getting it" for the first time. In places where I heard nothing before, I could see the separation of the beats and the background, making out the melodies and the layers. And, god, was it ever good.

I'm not even going to begin trying to break the album apart as a whole, because a lot of interesting thoughts have been by other reviewers and they've done so with talent. Instead, I simply wanted to try and pick off a few songs and attempt to say that these pieces managed to catch my mind's eye and give a little on the "why" as well.
When I spun through it that second time, "Eidetic Casen" captured me in its almost eerily haunting sound right away. It has such a strange ambiance to it, both floating and constricting at the same time, and I found myself drawn to that. The images it evoked were interesting and then some, to be sure.
"Sim Gishel" also caught me slacking when I started looking back once more, with those sounds starting out like some type of early videogame and then leading into a bassline that is truly captivating. I loved the development of it, the way it rushed forward and stole the show, and it hooked me pretty quickly.
And then there's the totally bizarre "Lentic Catachresis." The best way to perhaps describe its sound is to capture something a friend of mine and I agreed on when first hearing it, citing it as "two machines angrily chatting over coffee." It has a alien sound to it, like machines actually speaking in a background of sound, only I'm not tuned into what they're saying. It's an interesting conversation at first, too, until it escalates and the caffeine from all that coffee kicks in. And then it's simply a lovely strain feeding from some chaotic spectrum.

If you're new to Autechre, perhaps this isn't the first place you should step in at and begin exploring. While I'd call this album remarkable, these are waters to slip into slowly, submerging yourself into the sights and sounds they evoke a little at a time before delving into the calms and the chaos. It is remarkable, though, perhaps taking some time to finally sink in but making a piece of architecture that will excite the epicenters of your waking mind when it finally tunes in. ... Read more