it's all good... » acid

Sade – Make Some Room

Pinky — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:39:49 +0000

On the flip to the typically chocolate-smooth soul of Nothing Can Come Between Us and it appears that the band were hanging out at some raves at the beginning of the nascent house music movement in the UK during ’87 & ’88 as there’s some mild 303 acid action happening on this largely instrumental piece with warm chords underpinning it.

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Dr. DNA – Silver

Pinky — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:34:51 +0000

Dr. DNA was another alias for Andreas Krüger, who also released material as half of the more well known group, Der Dritte Raum. I remember reading at the time that Köln (or Cologne) where Polytox Records (the label it was released on) was located, being a hotbed of producers creating acid-heavy trance music. What is ironic is that the track that spurred me to buy this album, Aurora, faded away in my estimation over the years to the point where I now find it quite cheesy and one of my least favourite tracks. Fortunately, there are about four other tracks on this album than have held their own over time including this one. Silver is a swirling mass of undulating 303 noises and although some may want to pigeon-hole this further as psychedelic trance, I think it shows it’s Germanic electronic pedigree too strongly to warrant being labelled as such.

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Move D / Steve Oh / Black Jazz Consortium – Earth Tones

Pinky — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 13:10:20 +0000

This is a strong three tracker on Fred Peterkin’s Soul People Music label, a label that is part of a handful of contemporaries where every new release is worth checking out. Move D’s contribution is spread all over the A side, making room for the brooding bassline that kicks in near the beginning of the piece which is joined by an off-beat 303 acid line that snakes it’s way in and around the rest of the track. Just as you’re about to be lulled into a trance-like state, some lighter elements appear and, putting my train-spotter anorak on, what sounds like a sample of Lt. Commander Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation repeatedly uttering the phrase “We can not know”; indeed, neither can I!

Although I’ve been playing the Move D track the most since I bought my copy, both the other tracks are worthy of mention. Steve Oh’s simple yet engrossing percussive construction that harks back to earlier house tracks with what sounds like a vintage sample from which this track derives it’s title. Black Jazz Consortium’s (mis-spelled Black Jazz Constitution on the labels) appropriately titled track has a reflectively meditative looped sound throughout, complimented with some flowing keyboard sounds. A solid release that warrants support, pressing sounds like it could be limited so check soon with your favourite online or physical music retailer.

Tracklist:
A Move D – Aspiration 2010
B1 Steve Oh – Work Dat Shit
B2 Black Jazz Consortium – The Om

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L.H.A.S. Inc. – LHAS Pt.1

Pinky — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:41:29 +0000

The acronym, if you didn’t know or were wondering, stands for the Larry Heard Appreciation Society. However this isn’t a narcissistic project by the man himself but does naming your outfit after him live up to the self-enforced benchmark of quality that his title sets out? In the hands of Jamie Read, yes it does! This is the first of two EPs on his own label, Push II Shove Records, under the same moniker, both doing a more than decent stab at sounding Heard-esque. This track has it all – the smoothness of the keyboard chords and an acid line that “makes u want 2 jack”, sort of like Washing Machine put in a errr… washing machine with Stars or something.

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Cubic Space Collective – Palmer

Pinky — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:05:00 +0000

Acid Techno – want to know what it sounds like? Click on the flash player above and you’ll have over thirteen minutes assaulting your eardrums and brain. The sound of grimy squat parties in the 90s, massive speaker stacks emitting thousands of kilowatts of sound. A track owing it’s existence to the Roland TB-303 which had first been used for this purpose around ten years earlier.

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The Politicians feat.McKinley Jackson – The World We Live In

Pinky — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:42:18 +0000

Music can be such a personal thing, alot of the time your impressions are formed within the first few moments as the sounds cut through the noisy detritus of life to arrest your attention. Other times the subtlety of some tracks need repeated listens before, having initially been dismissed, you appreciate them; this is one of the former. I got handed a mixtape one night back in ’99 when running the bar in Thailand as I used play mixes using my walkman (remember those?) and was dead impressed by it. It mixed psychedelic rock with funk, mostly stuff from the 60s/70s if I recall correctly, excellent transitions between the tracks considering the material. I’m sure I’ve still got it (the guy who gave it to me in Thailand never came back to collect it; I remember when I first put it on, seeing him nodding sagely to it whilst sipping a beer.) but it will be in storage, I’ll definitely put it up on TipTop once retrieved.

It wasn’t until I saw and bought this re-release of the album that it’s from that I found out that it was played at 45rpm and pitched right down on the mixtape! Played at the correct speed it just sounds way too slow and just wrong – my impression was formed from listening to it on the mixtape and I have to listen to it now the same way. I’ve put both versions up here, the first is the original track and the second one was recorded at 45rpm but pitched down 8%; what do you think? Sped up, the bass almost sounds acidic, when I first heard this I thought it was until the track was id’ed, reminds me a little of Jean-Jacques Perrey’s track, “E.V.A.“. There must be whole websites devoted to highlighting tracks that sound either as good or better played the wrong speed and I also recall a compilation album years ago using this as it’s theme. Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of music.

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