compiled by Nicholas D. Kent
email: ndkent "at" optonline.net
Last updated 00.6.20
(*) means I don't own this album or
(@) means I only listened to this album
Someone involved was nice enough to give me this EP. Thanks!
Apogee and Perigee are two robots and the album tells their story in song (apparently). A strange and rare collaborative story project created by Testpattern. Jun Togawa definitely sings for one of the robots, though I do not see her credited and was told that was part of the concept. Tracks are written by Miharu Koshi (who probably also sings), Hosono, Ueno and Testpattern and others.
The songs are very catchy and the arrangements are superb (just look who is involved!)
Calm arty songs with synths. A little like World Standard.
(@) 99.7.21 Sony AICT-1064
Very charming. This one starts with Bossanova style material, gets a bit distorted and jazzy then goes sort of downtempo funk, not many of these styles usually captivate me but this does. Creative and unusually rich production lots of litle blips and noises and she has sort does slacker vocals at times which seem exactly right somehow. Second of her two full length albums on Sony. She has done minialbums and singles prior and since as an indie act. A fine album. (thanks for the listen R.G.)
1996 Creativeman cd: CMDD-00027
A.D.S. was an avant foursome who did some extreme electronics in a Hiphop/Rock context. Includes a couple concept pieces like all Roland drum machines or a track made only by touching live audio cables. Lots of distortion and sped up vocals, conceptual crazyness. Their engineer Ahh! Folly Jet later went on to work with Takako Minekawa and do at least one solo album. They must have passed out copies to some group of Americans or a number of hipsters bought this album and then decided they could do without it because I see used copies much more often than I'd expect for a less known act on an indie label... but then it might just be the same copy being bought and resold several times ;-).
Audio Active and LaraajiThe Way Out Is the Way In1995 Caroline/All Saints (US) cd: GYR 6615-2Laraaji is an American zither player and Eno alumni. Guests Michael Brook and Bill Nelson. Laraaji does wacky spoken word vocals against Audio Active trip-hop beats. He plays the zither he is best known for only a couple tracks. Could get on my nerves, depending on my mood. Audio Active does sort of U.K. style Ambient Dub. They have worked with Adrian Sherwood. Other albums I don't have include [tokyo space cowboys], Happy Happer, more tokyo space cowboys |
is a duo who play what I'd describe as Big Beat (though those who know big beat say there is a lot of techno in it). They have a U.S. release now, its worth a listen.
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