DJ Frane - Frane's fantastic boatride (1999)

This is your chance to join the easygoing lifestyle of the Dude from Big Lebowski. Without the nihilists and somebody pissing on your rug, of course. Just swing on that ol' bathrobe and put on some comfortable slippers instead. We're going on a boatride.

Frane's fantastic boatride is truely an overseen classic in instrumental hip-hop. Combining the tagline "beats to blaze to" with psychedelic and progressive elements into downright funky jams. This is audial bliss featuring fearless sampling, some live instruments and Frane's wicked scratching.

Throw those elements together as an "aquatic" concept album, and you've got quite a trip on your hands. To be enjoyed in a tropical environment while immersed in warm water, preferably with some of your favourite herb. Alternatively a city flat with a bathtub will just have to do.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am going for another dip in the warm water.

Enjoy!

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(95+14MB/320CBR)

SIMM - Welcome (1998)

When I posted Tapping the Conversation, I found myself wondering what other releases could be filed under "forgotten and overlooked". I began a short, but rather intensive, staring contest with my record collection. Through all the blur, my eyes slowly began to affix on SIMM. Yes indeed! The world needs more Eraldo Bernocchi.

Sadly the case with SIMM, like with many good and promising projects, turned out to be yet another short-lived experiment, only releasing one 12"EP, this full length and a handful of compilation tracks. Both the EP and Welcome were released by Mick Harris' now-defunct Possible Recs.

While the first press was released back in 1996, this reissue came out two years later and featured two additional tracks, namely Him and Backstage sonic, created and recorded in February 1997.

"OK! Enough with the history lesson, how are the sounds?" Eraldo is up for the challenge, trust me. Combining dark and brooding ambient atmospheres, looped beats, his signature guitar manipulations and deep bass into a nicely flowing stream of ambient dub.

It's actually hard for me to pick out standout tracks, as the whole album flows very smoothly from start to finish. If I had to pick a personal favourite, I'd go with the second track, Some silences. Lovely basswork, the restrained beat and the synthbleeps emerging halway through the track. Mesmerizing stuff.

SIMM is an almost hypnotic approach to dark soundscapes and groovy beats. Very calm and laid back, but still packing some serious sonic punch, SIMM and Welcome deserve way more recognition, indeed. Highly recommended, enjoy!

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(95+47MB/320CBR)

The Bug - Tapping the Conversation (1997)

Audio surveillance, invasion of privacy, paranoia and guilt.

They are all themes explored in Francis Ford Coppola's movie The Conversation from 1974. The troubled main character Harry Caul, portrayed by Gene Hackman, is an audio surveillance expert capable of bugging any conversation between a group of people. For a price, of course. Not to give away too much of the plot, especially for those who haven't seen the movie and plan on doing so, let's just say that one seemingly small and irrational piece of conversation will change the lives of Harry and the people involved.

Let's skip forward in time, twenty-three years to be exact. It's 1997, and this is where The Bug, at this time a co-op between Kevin Martin and Andre Gurov, better known as DJ Vadim, comes in. When you combine these highly productive musicians with the additional help of Dave Cochrane on bass, Simon Hopkins on guitar and Alex Buess on bass clarinet, you get Tapping the Conversation.

This dub-hop rendition of the movie is truely a dive into the deep end. Cochrane's basslines combined with Vadim's beats are the foundation on which the audials and visuals of the movie are reinterpreted on. While the sparse beats advance rather slowly, the textures are constantly moving with K-Mart squeezing tones from his synthesizers, some distorted guitars or the laid-back howls of the bass clarinet.

Although there is a heavy emphasis in the booklet that "absolutely no sonic or visual samples" are taken from the movie, watching the film in advance will help you enjoy the album to the fullest, as the track names are tied to scenes appearing in the movie.

Luckily for us The Bug goes beyond just reheating the suspense and feeling of the original motion picture. Instead, presenting us with their modern take on the menacing and paranoid vibe, this is infectiously catchy cinema for the mind. Enjoy!

"The issues of privacy and individuality, and issues of spying and listening, are as relevant now as they've ever been."

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(95+32MB/320CBR)

Equations Of Eternity - Vevè (1998)

Harris, Laswell and Bernocchi return for another collaborative effort under their Equations Of Eternity-moniker. Vevè picks up where their self titled left off, spicing things up with even more magick references than on their previous album. Let's sneak a peek behind the veil of secrets, shall we?

Many building blocks of the previous album are left intact. If it works, why mess with it? Laswell simply let's his bass do the talking. The throbbing lines of low-pitched goodness flow onward like a thick stream of glue, gently binding all elements together.

The beat constructions are signature Harris. Like the whole album, they're slowly evolving, and in absolutely no rush to get anywhere fast. Everything is nicely topped off with Bernocchi layering his gloomy soundscapes around the listener. The programmed electronics, manipulated guitar tones and ritual chants really bring the tracks to life. Slowly unfolding and subtle audial movements, constantly floating in and out on the listener. Again and again.

Reading about the track titles and studying their themes will flesh out the tracks even more, and maybe even open up new worlds for the interested and uninitiated. Going through nine tracks of smoothly flowing soundscapes in 56 minutes, everybody is allowed along for the trip. The sounds are certainly worth a listen, even if you don't care for the occult references and themes within.

"But the aim is to go behind the word to find the meaning, and to go beyond the sound to find the wisdom."

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(95+27MB/320CBR)

Equations Of Eternity - Equations Of Eternity (1996)

Mick Harris, Bill Laswell and Eraldo Bernocchi. Three prolific musicians. Three different countries. Two continents.

Judging by the liner notes, the material for this album was created by each participant, own their own, in their own studios, and finally arranged, mixed down and produced by Bernocchi. Luckily for us, the international mail system was still working to some degree during the late 90's, thus making this collabration possible.

Harris provides some noisy samples and his instantly recognizable spare beats, although for this record he has spiced them up with a touch of tribal feel, sounding almost ritualistic at times.

Laswell provides the driving force of the album. His signature bass sound, thick and groovy, has been mixed decisively into the foreground for the listener to catch on to. It's almost like a steady flow of thick tar oozing from your speakers.

Bernocchi, with whose work I wasn't too familiar during the time of the release, except for a few compilation casette appearances with his group Sigillum S, is the puppetmaster of this show, pulling the strings, providing programmed electronics and manipulated guitar sounds to accompany Mick's beatwork.

Throw in a healthy dose of mysticism, specifically Haitian vodou-references, some distorted chants and a Crowley-quote to boot, and you get this dark, beat-heavy monster of a ritual record. Originally released by Wordsound in 1996, the disc features nine tracks with a running time of 55 minutes.

Enough with words, it's time for you to get lost in this thick concoction of dubby drone. Enjoy!

"Things connect in the end, somehow, mysteriously".

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(95+23MB/320CBR)

Trace Decay - Dispersion (1999)

Trace Decay was a one-off project between Mick Harris and John Everall, the label boss of Sentrax records.

Combining ideas and influences of both Harris and Everall, the result is a moody combination of acoustic drumming and electronic sounds.

The recipe includes rather slow and hypnotic drum loops played by Harris, deep and groovy basslines, different kinds of looped background rhythms, washes of white noise, crackling static and some found sounds (for example marine band radio signals).

The overall feel is a warm session between two friends, both artists being able to bring their view into the mix while jamming on with the flow. To be enjoyed with dimmed lights and headphones, just so you can soak in all those background movements.

For the next hour and three minutes, let these seven tracks of excellent material help you to kick back, relax, empty your mind and fill your ears with sound. Enjoy!

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(95+44MB/320CBR)

The Weakener - What do you know about it? (1998)

"Holy asshat, Batman! They're aiming some kind of supersonic weapon at us!"

Although Scorn was on indefinite hiatus during the time this baby was put out, Mick Harris on the other hand just wasn't ready to kick back and relax. It was time for another project, another release and more work to keep the man sane.

Harris is ready and comes prepared. He sets the background with an arsenal of hypnotically slow beats, thick, throbbing and full of echo. On top of that, a seemingly endless variation of drones and noises work their way back and forth in the mix. Spiced up with enough low end and bass to defy, and take on, the Mariana trench, you'd better keep an eye on that subwoofer.

The album features seven tracks in, give or take, 50 minutes. If you're looking for variation, you'd better sample another album. On the other hand, if you're interested in tight beats, a menacing ambience and enough sonic boom to sink a submarine, this is a sure bet.

All work and no play doesn't seem to make Mick a dull boy. Quite the contrary, in my opinion his vision is shining brighter than ever.

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(95+15MB/320CBR)