Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| Disc: 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Analogue Bubblebath - Aphex Twin | |||
| 2. Kinetic (Orbital Remix) - Golden Girls | |||
| 3. Plastic Dreams - Jaydee | |||
| 4. Monkey Wah - Radical Rob | |||
| 5. Energy Flash - Joey Beltram | |||
| 6. The Vamp - Outlander | |||
| 7. Dominator - Human Resource | |||
| 8. Didgeridoo - Aphex Twin | |||
| 9. Mentasm - Second Phase | |||
| 10. Carmargue - CJ Bolland | |||
See all 11 tracks on this disc
| |||
| Disc: 2 | |||
| 1. Kinetic (Tom Middleton Remix) - Golden Girls | |||
| 2. Plastic Dreams (Audion Remix) - Jaydee | |||
| 3. Mentasm (Redshape Remix) - Second Phase | |||
| 4. Energy Flash (Radio Slave Remix) - Joey Beltram | |||
| 5. Horsepower (Boys Noize Remix) - CJ Bolland | |||
| 6. 20Hz (Optimo Edit) - Capricorn | |||
| 7. Music (Paul Woolford Remix) - Sonic Solution | |||
| 8. Dominator (Herve Remix) - Human Resource | |||
| 9. Vamp (Prins Thomas Remix) - Outlander | |||
Product Description
Review
What unifies these tracks is the do-it-yourself culture of the day. Ghent is not noted for its record labels and, by appropriating a Ferrari-like logo, Renate and Sabine showed verve, gumption and tenacity to sign artists who were obsessed with head nodding hooks, 303 and 808-induced rhythms, characteristic chord inversions and further rhythm upon rhythm, explored with a plethora of the kit du jour: drum machines, samplers and Atari sequencers. It was all crafted with a dose of fun and late night substances. You could argue that these are all key ingredients for a good night out. Whether you choose to rave at home is another thing.
That said, you have to credit the label with pooling together a range of artists from across the Atlantic and the Channel into a strong roster; featuring some pioneers in their own right. Apart from the kudos of Detroits' cult labels (Metroplex , Transmatt and Craig's Planet E) only Sheffield's Warp records managed to weather the storm after 2 Unlimited's damage to the genre.
Orbital's remix of Kinetic really captures the energy of the time, while the haunting prog house classic, Plastic Dreams with its simple and haunting organ melody, heralded the British obsession with the genre which ended up in the cul de sac of trance and harder house.
Aficionados will be pleased to know that all the 'greats' are there, with some having persevered and developed those relentless beats. Most notably Juan Atkins; often cited as the Godfather of techno and his Model 500 moniker, Aphex Twin with the cyclical, trance-inducing Didgeridoo and CJ Bolland's euphoric Carmargue.
Each generation has its hazy moments and the double LP is maybe best summed up by Joey Beltran's Energy Flash: a pounding beast, an unbridled kick drum with hats and bass polarising the frequency spectrum and a sotto vocal sample pronouncing ''Ecstasy'' (He just liked the word by the way). Played by DJs like Colin Favor and Dale in the darkness of a club like Rage, Lost or Knowledge this would cause delirium (no pun intended) in the early hours of the morning.
Despite the contemporary remixes from Optimo and Tom 'Jedi Knight' Middleton this works as a flashback for the E generation that has maybe traded in their vinyl for MP3s but also helps a new audience discover that 'back in the day vibe'. Though many of the production values sound dated, interested parties should explore R&S' Apollo label for a more experimental journey . --St.John de-Zilva
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Never mind, this is still a well compiled document of the label's early to mid-1990's sound. We only really get to hear the "hoover" on two tracks actually: Human Resource's "Dominator" (one of the few - if not the only - R&S records to have made it into the UK Top 40) and the superior, "Mentasm" by Second Phase (a Joey Beltram co-production). Indeed the LP gets off to quite a mellow start with Aphex Twin's "Analogue Bubblebath" - in stark contrast to the other featured RDJ track, the more mentalist "Didgeridoo". The highlights for me are Golden Girls "Kinetic (Orbital Remix)" (even if you don't recognise the title you'll almost certainly recognise the tune) and C J Bolland's stunning techno-trance work-out "Camargue" (mis-spelled "Carmargue" here - not to worry, I once heard Pete Tong call it "Camaraj"). Model 500's "I Wanna Be There" sounds slightly incongruous at the end though - not that it's a bad song (it's one of his best) - I just don't think Juan Atkins' music was particularly representative of the R&S sound (i.e. a bit too clean). A better choice might have been Tronikhouse's "The Savage and Beyond" or maybe Phuture's "Rise from Your Grave" or even 69's "Jam the Box"...but then that's compilations for you.
Disc 2 therefore could so easily have continued with the classic sounds (the label's catalogue is strong enough for a box set, never mind a 2CD). Instead though they go, perhaps commendably, given that techno music is supposed to be about the future and not the past, for a selection of remixes, in an attempt to update the R&S sound. The remixes are for the most part knowingly respectful, adding enough to make the songs sound different without making them unrecognisable. One notable exception though is Matthew Dear's radical 11 minute re-working of (what was always, for me, the over-rated) "Plastic Dreams" into a click-house Basic Channel meets Richard H Kirk masterpiece.
As previously intimated, there's more than enough material in the R&S vaults to make a volume 2 and a volume 3 of equal if not better quality (and guys if you're looking for a compiler, give me a call) but it would be nice to see the label now cut loose of the past and pave the way for the techno of the 21st.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
