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Froid Dub - Tears Maker Chant Remixes (Ransom Note)
Title: Tears Maker Chant Remixes
Artist: Froid Dub
Label: Ransom Note
Cat Number: R$N50R
Genre: Transcendental Beats
1:Control (Richard Fearless Remix)
2: Digital Pond (Lena Willikens Remix)
3: On The Nose (Zillas On Acid Remix)
4: Tears Maker (Timothy Clerkin Remix)
5: Just One (Strange Affair Remix)
6: Tears Maker (Vacant Heads Remix)
7: Terri’s Dub (Rainy Terrace Dub by Toulouse Low Trax)
It’s a remix package, so you hope for something different. A bit of variety and experimentation perhaps. Something in the spirit of Froid Dub’s innovation itself no less. And It would be great if everything hits the spot, whether you like it or not. So, starting off with Richard Fearless’s interpretation of ‘Control’, we’ve got full blooded drum & bass, albeit with a portentous edge that takes it somewhere special and slightly disembodied the longer you listen. And, without wanting to over generalise, a few of these fall into psychedelic cosmic chug territory. Lena Wiillikens, Zillas On Acid, Timothy Clerkin, Vacant Heads & Toulouse Low Trax all bang the drum on the abstract disco spectrum with varying outcomes. The primitive, dubby overtones of Zillas On Acid being the most transcendental, but with each composition offering a glimpse into a sonic event horizon, nothing can be discounted. Both Lena Willikens and Toulouse Low Trax turn in versions which are both lo fi and incantatory simultaneously. While Timothy Clerkin reaches for the stars with his soaring piece of disco euphoria. The Strange Affair Remix of ‘Just One’ feels a little at odds with most of what is featured here, except perhaps the opening track, offering, as it does, a different level of break beat science embellished with talking drums. Finally, Vacant Heads ceom correct with a version of Tears Maker’ that has simlialr production values to ‘Red Mecca’ era Cabaret Voltaire. Which makes it a clear winner.
Plant43 - Feeding the Machines (Plant43)
Title: Feeding The Machines
Artist: Plant43
Label: Plant43
Cat Number:
Genre: Electro
1: Information Decay
2: Crawling Ghosts
3: Feeding The Machines
4: Anthropomorphic Alogorithms
5: Nature’s Warding
6: Absolute Inertia
7: Shifting At Dusk
8: Echoes In The Abyss
9: Rain Isn’t Real (Digital Only)
10: The Watching Owls (Digital Only)
‘Feeding The Machines’, Plant43’s latest long player, follows on from last year’s ‘Luminous Machines’ and maintains an annual run of albums stretching all the way back to 2018, except for the fallow year of 2022. And ‘Feeding The Machines’, while not going off in any radically new direction, toughens up the beats and, I think, puts them centre stage. The characteristic emotive, melodic hallmarks haven’t disappeared by any stretch, but the package feels more percussively reliant. A nadir of sorts is reached with ‘Nature’s Warding’, which blurs the liners between techno and electro, (even though it is recognisably the latter), and has a real big room feel without an ounce of compromise. Having said that, what comes next in the form of ‘Absolute Inertia’ is full on techno and even though passable, lacks that bit of syncopation that makes its predecessor more engaging. ‘Echoes In The Abyss’ is neither of one world or the other, slowing the pace down to a respiratory, portentous fugue state. It’s all good. However, it’s tunes like those that open up proceedings, such as the title track, which show this albums most dramatic and proficient side; sticking to the electro template, and amplifying the low end for maximum machine funk tomfoolery.
