Gameboy
4th March 2003, 14:55
out???
http://www.technopunkmusic.com/brandnewreviews.html
You can take every two-track EP you just bought, stick all those mostly "playing it safe" releases in one pile and look at the messy heap you‚ve just created. That mess is rather indicative as I‚m willing to venture that while many of those EPs are quite good there may be one element that is starkly absent from each: creativity!
How many typical progressive, big beat breaks and snarling, directionless jungle pieces of wax must still be endured before the mass realizes that nothing is really being created? That‚s not necessarily a knock on each of those styles but those styles are quite popular at the moment and, with what should be considered a responsibility but often isn‚t, popularity often times breeds commonplace in great abundance.
Why? Because it‚s a fucking meal ticket if it‚s popular, that‚s why, and because that silly old cliché gets overused when these uncreative producers offer up the opinion, "it‚s what the people want."
Yeah, well, certain people wanted Hitler, others appreciate the company of Saddam Hussein and still others idolize mega pop-stars who pretend to be stank-ass hoes. The point is just cause the people listen doesn‚t mean it‚s any fucking good.
And just what the fuck am I babbling about anyway?
Well, I‚m firmly of the belief that if one must write objectively about an insane piece of work then the words should be too!
Ibrahim Alfa‚s Agent Down<sum>Objective Lost is above and beyond creativity. It‚s four tracks (as opposed to your typically lazy two track releases) of near-insanity, where the producer locks away the real world and allows the psyche to go just a little mad. A prime example is "Crushed<sum>," a full on blast of pissed off distorted reverb that defies great, persistent techno by retaining those elements but almost fully resisting anything that might inspire a dance floor groove.
"Send A Probe" may befuddle as much as it pleases since the continuous conversation sample doesn‚t make much sense but the grooves certainly do. "Days Are Slipping By" sounds a bit peeved over that idea and delightfully slaughter‚s an innocent moment because of it. Wanna know what old-school breakbeat freestyle sounds like with a disposition toward violence? Look no further.
Though "Ideology" encompasses all that Agent Down<sum>Objective Lost stands for, throwing together spooky electro, addictive dance floor grooves and one deep and constant synth rhythm that is sure to stick around long after the track is finished.
It‚s almost comparable to the crazier days of Miles Davis though taken to a wild electronic degree. Sure, the popular tastes of the collective sound absolutely nuts sometimes and Ibrahim Alfa isn‚t the type to suck on the breasts of any easily profitable commodity. Yet, Alfa‚s insanity makes perfect sense almost exclusively for the intelligent and open-minded.
And that‚s just a helluva lot sexier besides.
Bill Whiting-Mahoney
Technopunkmusic.com
http://www.technopunkmusic.com/brandnewreviews.html
You can take every two-track EP you just bought, stick all those mostly "playing it safe" releases in one pile and look at the messy heap you‚ve just created. That mess is rather indicative as I‚m willing to venture that while many of those EPs are quite good there may be one element that is starkly absent from each: creativity!
How many typical progressive, big beat breaks and snarling, directionless jungle pieces of wax must still be endured before the mass realizes that nothing is really being created? That‚s not necessarily a knock on each of those styles but those styles are quite popular at the moment and, with what should be considered a responsibility but often isn‚t, popularity often times breeds commonplace in great abundance.
Why? Because it‚s a fucking meal ticket if it‚s popular, that‚s why, and because that silly old cliché gets overused when these uncreative producers offer up the opinion, "it‚s what the people want."
Yeah, well, certain people wanted Hitler, others appreciate the company of Saddam Hussein and still others idolize mega pop-stars who pretend to be stank-ass hoes. The point is just cause the people listen doesn‚t mean it‚s any fucking good.
And just what the fuck am I babbling about anyway?
Well, I‚m firmly of the belief that if one must write objectively about an insane piece of work then the words should be too!
Ibrahim Alfa‚s Agent Down<sum>Objective Lost is above and beyond creativity. It‚s four tracks (as opposed to your typically lazy two track releases) of near-insanity, where the producer locks away the real world and allows the psyche to go just a little mad. A prime example is "Crushed<sum>," a full on blast of pissed off distorted reverb that defies great, persistent techno by retaining those elements but almost fully resisting anything that might inspire a dance floor groove.
"Send A Probe" may befuddle as much as it pleases since the continuous conversation sample doesn‚t make much sense but the grooves certainly do. "Days Are Slipping By" sounds a bit peeved over that idea and delightfully slaughter‚s an innocent moment because of it. Wanna know what old-school breakbeat freestyle sounds like with a disposition toward violence? Look no further.
Though "Ideology" encompasses all that Agent Down<sum>Objective Lost stands for, throwing together spooky electro, addictive dance floor grooves and one deep and constant synth rhythm that is sure to stick around long after the track is finished.
It‚s almost comparable to the crazier days of Miles Davis though taken to a wild electronic degree. Sure, the popular tastes of the collective sound absolutely nuts sometimes and Ibrahim Alfa isn‚t the type to suck on the breasts of any easily profitable commodity. Yet, Alfa‚s insanity makes perfect sense almost exclusively for the intelligent and open-minded.
And that‚s just a helluva lot sexier besides.
Bill Whiting-Mahoney
Technopunkmusic.com