HARMONIC 313
EP1
WAP231
Warp Records 2008
06 Tracks. 22mins43secs
Format: 12″/Digital

Mark Pritchard certainly needs no introduction. From his time as one half of Global Communication, responsible for one of the finest ambient albums ever released, to various other projects, solo, with Tom Middleton or others (Jedi Knights, Reload, Link or Troubleman to name but a few), he has made an undeniable mark on electronic music. His latest project sees him remodel Harmonic 33 by adding a one between the threes and move away from the down tempo, library music-infused sound he has developed with Dave Brinkworth on the pair’s two albums to turn his attention to classic Detroit techno and eighties electro pop. Continue Reading »

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TOM MIDDLETON
Lifetracks
FACTOR 19
Big Chill Recordings 2007
12 Tracks. 69mins09secs

Originally envisioned as music to wind down to after a night out, downtempo found a commercial life of its own in the mid to late nineties under the guises of trip hop, ambient breaks, and any number of dime-a-dozen compilations invoking watered-down Buddhist spirituality. Like all genres, downtempo was destined to produce some more questionable compositions. Over time, the darkness (and much of the depth) was swept out from more popular recordings, replaced by a flux of reverberated blandness (looking at you, Zero 7) leading to inevitable, laughable cash-ins like the Reindeer Room series of Christmas compilations. Suddenly, “chillout” became a new buzz genre, and the most staid dinner parties had a watered-down soundtrack.

Of course, it wasn’t always like that. Just ask Tom Middleton. As a forerunner in the early movement of dowtempo fusionism, Middleton worked with Richard D. James (on the ambient house-inflected Analogue Bubblebath EP), and, most famously, as half of Global Communication, the pioneering ambient and deep house act, whose 76:14 is rightfully acclaimed as the summit of ambient house and techno. Continue Reading »

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