A student
at the Los Angeles Art Center College Of Design, Dan Abrams has
already made a name for himself with his releases as Shuttle 350. For his
first album for Mille Plateaux (Stream, Mille Plateaux, MP099)
Abrams follows a simple process, using opportunistic clicks and noises,
arranged into metaphorical rhythmic structures and hybrid ambiences. The
relationship between the multiple elements used distracts from the glitch-y
aspects of the compositions, emphasizing the man’s work on atmosphere.
Sulphur:
Compound (Sulphur Records, SULCD008) uses many different processes
to the same effect. Robin Raimbaud’s Sulphur label offers an oblique view
on electronic music, torn between contemporary classical, electro-acoustic,
dub and modern jazz. The fact is that Raimbaud set up Sulphur to level
the boundaries between genres, and Compound manages that most of the time.
At the other end of the spectrum lies DJ Hellfish, whose Meat
Machine Broadcast System (Planet Mu, ZIQ041) follows last year’s
Constant Mutation. Perhaps one of the most anticipated Planet Mu releases
of the year, Meat Machine Broadcast System is a truly violent record,
infected by convulsive electro-shocks, breakbeat twinges and sniper-like
beats. This album can be a bit of a handful for the non-initiated, but
with endorsement by the likes of Aphex Twin, DMX Krew
and Mike Paradinas, it is obvious that the man is a talent not to be ignored.
And, with unexpected treasures such as the humorous pinball jazz Guerrillas
On The Piss. Voices come into the equation from time to time in a vain
attempt to give some sense to this vast chaos, but Hellfish’s dance floor
terrorism intentionally brushes aside any vaguely human structures in favour
of walls of noise distortions. The take on early acid house adopted on
the Universal Indicator album (Innovation In The Dynamic Of
Acid, Rephlex, CAT117CD), compiled by DJ Mike Dred (Kosmik Kommando),
if equally extreme in ideology, has a more coherent feel. Universal Indicator,
an anonymous Rephlex collective, rumoured to have featured Richard D. James
or Dred himself, amongst others, released four very limited 12”, counting
the 21 tracks included on this album, plus a few extras. Inspired by the
primitive Chicago scene, as well as seminal UK artists such as Baby Ford,
A Guy Called Gerald and 808 State, this project explored the origins of
the genre, and Dred revive here the true spirit of the time.
Dan Abrams: Stream
V/A: Sulphur: Compound
HELLFISH: Meat Machine
Broadcast System
UNIVERSAL INDICATOR:
Innovation In The Dynamic Of Acid
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