Machine Drum :: Half The Battle (Merck, CD)
This release features six tracks from the Half The Battle vinyl put to CD plus nine other remixes by Proem, Brothomstates, Ilkae, Proswell, Lackluster, Xela, Esem, Tstewart, Secede, Vim!, Tim Koch and Syndrone. Fans of Merck will know what to expect with this list of remixers – lots of gritty and tight beats, well thought out melodic structure, and also some oddball video game funk overtones. Austin, Texas dweller Proem delivers the goods once again with a nice middle point between fractured rhythm noodlings, and healthy harmonic meat and two veg. Vim! chips in with a massive squarepusher-drenched beat workout that comes out ontop a pile of really smart remixes. DeFocus artists Esem and Lackluster (of Russian and Finland respectively) twist their normal musical equations a little with nice laid back slabs of funk melancholia. Lassi Nikko as Brothomstates (now signed to Warp) delivers the goods as always with academic beat flurries and alien synth pads looming overhead. Ilkae and Proswell twist the original tracks into a taut blend of Mouse on Mars swingin’ melody and confused rambling vocoders ‘sean penn, sextet, pony, racquetball, machine drum!.’ UK’s Xela deals in smooth Autechre styled rhythm but with a touch more r’n’b with his Soul in the Machine mix, whilst Secede’s Return To Island cx mix toys in orchestral midi smatterings. Plainly put, Half the Battle is a bunch of really strong, tight tracks, regardless of whether it is a remix album or not, so do your hairy ears a favour and go buy it.
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Proswell :: Konami (Merck, CD)
Proswell is Joe Misra. Konami is his debut album for Merck Records based in Miami, Florida. Previously Misra has released a lot of his work on net labels such as Inpuj and Monotonik. Misra makes solid use of bit rate decimation in all the right places, pleasant melodic development, video-game theme melody gymnastics combined with lazy-yet-tight beat programming and interesting time signature variation, off-kilter arrangements that refresh more than overbear as with your Max Tundras or your (insert wacky IDM artist here). Tracks such as “Grasshopper” and “Hello My Future” do in fact sound like a soundtrack to a miswired Konami video game, but one that is altogether more complex and sinister than their trademark frogs dodging traffic or pixelated track and field antics. With obvious similarities to Casino Vs Japan, Marumari and Lackluster, Proswell spreads a more rich and dynamic melodic lattice over his manic-but-measured rhythm beds. So fire up your Mame or your favourite console emulator of yesteryear, and let Konami reinvent those 8-bit memories. Also features neat octopus cover design that will have you out for Mezes and Uzo in a jiffy. With few ‘ooh time to make coffee’ moments, there is much to enjoy here – especially if you are into your electronic biscuits a little burnt and dropped on the floor straight from the oven.
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