Mochipet :: Feel My China (Component, CD)

(08.18.05) Subtlety: a base element which has played the most integral of roles throughout the recorded history of music. From the intricate and melodic contrapuntal lines of J.S. Bach, to the masterful, unchained guitar love of J.M. Hendrix, subtlety was there, like the proverbial garlic in a perfectly honed meal. Subtlety is the quintessence of grand artistic merit, a tool used by the cream of the planets’s more learned composers, and most notably — completely lacking from Mochipet’s Feel My China — a satanic crunchfest of an album created in homage to an enigmatic genius by a number of computerized miscreants.

First off, I’d like to note that the nature of this disc renders subtlety as largely unnecessary. It simply wouldn’t serve to further the insanity of the 14 remixes and 2 answering machine messages contained within. Feel My China is basically a Friar’s Club roast performed by Los Santos de DSP, class of 2005, and what you will hear is a whole lot of busted, distorted, high speed goodness — flavored with the occasional vocal sample and/or synth line to break up the onslaught a bit.

Notable tracks are the incredibly well executed “Acid Panda Laptop Death Mix” by Exillon, (an uber-talented producer and Component recording artist), “Cuti Sadda vs. Mochipet Appraisal on the Altar Mixxx” by Skymall (a FL/PA based party-wrecker with a twisted sense of humor), and the jumpy “Cold Heart Remix” by Terminal 11. Oh yeah… big ups to my boys in Eustachian for rocking a strong jam, and because I just wanted to let you folks on these internets know that they can do it proper.

All of the tracks on Feel My China are all well mastered, cohesive, and could easily pass as a release from a single artist – which shows that the artists are all capable producers who are relatively knowledgeable to Mochipet’s sound and have worked the source material the right way.

The one downfall to this remix disc is the relative lack of melodic tunes. Most of the tracks are chopped, scattered, and topped with DSP chili, leaving very little in the realm of actual ‘songwriting.’ Normally, that would piss me off, but it seems to work appropriately for this light-hearted tribute to one of the world’s more diverse and interesting electronic artists.

I could see this disc being played between acts at the mother of all IDM shows, or at the official after-party of the apocalypse, however, I am going to save my copy for the next time someone I know takes acid for the first time — coz that’s the way we do it in the sizzuburbs, yall.

Feel My China is out now on Component.