My Weblog

Listmania

You've probably already read RA's lists of top singles and albums, so below are the two top 20s I submitted to the site. I did so in the hope that some of the voices I feel passionate about might get heard on such a widely-read platform. However, the truth is, I feel uncomfortable doing lists. It makes me feel like I am applying a hierarchical system to music, that in so doing I am stating that some work has more merit than others. The other main problem for me is that these lists are limited to a 12-month period. Many of my purchases this past year have been old singles and albums - for example, 2008 was the first time I heard anything by Silver Apples - so it's impossible to include them to a 'best of' list. Anyway, have a look at my choices and stay tuned for a proper lookback at the year either shortly after Christmas or in the new year. In the meantime, have a very happy and peaceful festive season!

Singles

Function     Anticipation     Sandwell District
 Morphosis     Dark Tales of Phonecia Part 2    Morphine Doser
 Seldom Felt    Seldom Felt 2    Seldom Felt
 Omar S     Psychotic Photosynthesis     FXHE
 Portable     Release    Perlon
 Aroy Dee    Summer    M<O<S
 Redshape    Blood Into Dust     Styrax Leaves
 Lowtec    Workshop 6     Workshop
 Silent Servant    Blood of our Kings     Sandwell District
 Yuro & Trago    Primary Roots     Rush Hour
 Donnacha Costello     It Simply Is     Minimise
 Patrice Scott    The Evolutions EP      Sistrum
 Claro Intelecto      When the Time is Right    Modern Love
 Equalized     Equalized 01     Equalized
Jackmaster Corky    Dimension 106    Crème Jak
 Marcel Dettmann    MDR 4     MDR
 Sleeparchive     Hadron     Sleeparchive
 Peter Van Hoesen    Casual Care     Time 2 Express
 Lawrence    Miles     Dial
 Ben Klock    Klockworks 4     Klockworks

Albums

Kenny Larkin    Keys, Strings  & Tambourines    Planet E
Petar Dundov    Escapements    Music Man
Osborne    Osborne    Spectral
James T Cotton     Like No One    Spectral
Shed       Shedding The Past      Ostgut
Neil Landstrumm    Lord for 39    Planet Mu
Prosumer & Murat Tepeli    Serenity    Ostgut
Dedbeat     Roots & Wire      Wagon Repair
Benjamin Brunn & Move D    Songs from the Beehive    Smallville
Jason Fine    Our Music Is a Secret Order    Kontra
Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia    Pain Disappears    Buzzin Fly
Claro Intelecto    Metanarrative    Modern Love
James Ruskin    The Dash    Tresor
The Third Man    Clarion Call     Ai
Barry Lynn      Balancing Lakes    Planet Mu
Hans-Joachim Roedelius & Tim Story    Inlandish    Gronland
Bochum Welt    R.O.B.    Rephlex
Italtek    Cyclical    Planet Mu
Bruno Pronsato     Why Can't We Be Like Us    Hello? Repeat
 Corrugated Tunnel     I Am Corrugated    Invisible Agent / Seedy R

Human After All

I love it when a producer insinuates himself into your collection, by stealth rather than by brute force, and Orgue Electronique falls into the former category. To my eternal shame, the first time I heard some of Brian Chinetti’s music was on 2004’s ‘Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven’ Ep for Crème Organization. He had been active since 1999 – admittedly, his first release was on Bunker, not always an easy label to track down – and sometimes works with Legowelt (as Chicago Slags and Macho Cat Garage). However, it’s under his Orgue alias that I’ve become a fan. What sets his work apart from many of the artists producing music influenced by Chicago house and old school electro is that his drums, claps, basslines are loose and imperfect, that there is a sense that it could all fall apart at any stage but that it just about doesn’t. This search for perfection but the fact that he never quite gets there, this is what makes for compelling listening. Has it anything to do with whether he records everything using hardware and not digitally? I’m not sure, but all I know is the end result, like ‘On A String’, the flipside to Legowelt’s ‘DX Days’ on Clone or last year’s ‘The Garden’ five-tracker for Crème - which I only caught up with recently - combine sub-bass otherworldliness, raw drums with a tangible, human touch. It’s rare to hear that there’s a beating heart behind the robot music…

One Lump Or Two?

Who is behind Lump? I'm not sure, but they've just put out an album,'Lumpdub', on Contexterrior, which should give you some idea as to what their music is about. Having said that, the album is to the centre of Jay Haze's forays into P-funk mind melt, a more conventional glitchy collection of eleven digidub tracks that still has a hypnotic flow. Sometimes it seems that, in a rush to outstrip the opposition, there's a tendency in contemporary techno towards bookishly clever-clever dispays of oneupmanship, which in so doing, loses sight of the groove. Alex Smoke is one of the few producers who manages to fulfill both the egghead and raw funk quotas with aplomb, but on occasion, others, like Jeff Samuel, sound like they stood on their pet hamster. Anyway, 'Lumpdub' by Lump has a refreshing simplicity and, unlike this post, doesn't ramble too much!

It would help, wouldn't it...

If you knew who we are. Test is a club that takes place in Dublin sporadically. Its residents are Richard Brophy and Jay Galligan and its last stint was a weekly midweek slot at Viva in South William Street, which finished just before Christmas. Much as we don't like to categorise too much, you can expect to hear a range of techno, house and electro music at Test from some of our fair city's finest DJs. We hope to be back in action soon, and are looking at a few venues to run another intimate night at.

This site is also home to the rantings, ramblings, ravings and recommendations of Test. Some people will love it, some will hate it, but I can only hope that it will become compelling reading and a good starting point for anyone who is interested in music with an edge.