Monday, July 20, 2009

Moritz von Oswald Trio, "Vertical Ascent", or "Why does he always have to sound like TV Victor these days?" Also: Juan and Luke!

This is another new release that simply isn't resonating with me ... I love the idea of three techno mavens picking up guitars and exotic percussion instruments and going all jazz/dub on us, but there's just nothing going on here, it's all style and atmosphere with none of the risk taking that makes for quality improvised music. I feel as though I'm supposed to be impressed and find myself lost in sound just because the album was mastered in an echo chamber or something.

Speaking of men, myths, and legends, I heard Juan Atkins spin this past weekend. After a bit of a wimpy patch at the start, he turned on the slamming Detroit goodness and just didn't stop. He hit the classics patch around 4:30 AM ("Strings of Life"/"No UFOs"/"I Feel Love"/some Basic Channel stuff) and I was completely worn out ...

On the same note, Planetary Assault Systems' "Temporary Suspension" is slamming my ass against the wall right now. This stuff is nearly indistinguishable from Luke Slater's mid-90's PAS work, and I love how he dabbles in e.g. electro-pop just for kicks ("I Can Complete You") but always finds a way to return to the PAS material, which simply never seems to age.

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