Dark Matter by Silicon Scally (AKA Carl Finlow).
Released in March of 2005 on Satamile Records NYC.
Vinyl, 2x12". Flac, 16bit/44.1khz, ~332M.
Tracklist and track durations from the back cover artwork. File size,
bit depth, and bitrate are of my own stored recordings of the vinyl.
BPM is my own count (and is probably inaccurate).
No.
Artist / Title
BPM
Dur.
A1.
Silicon Scally / Toneworks
126
06:24
A2.
Silicon Scally / Pace
120
07:10
B1.
Silicon Scally / Parallel Array
133
06:31
B2.
Silicon Scally / Indefinite Space
126
07:12
C1.
Silicon Scally / Clone Alone
128
08:10
C2.
Silicon Scally / Ghost Wires
140
06:12
D1.
Silicon Scally / All Torque
132
07:00
D2.
Silicon Scally / Dark Matter
134
07:48
Carl Finlow has a long history in electronic music - over a
hundred releases spanning several decades. Of his LPs, EPs, and
singles that I've heard this is my favorite (and one of my favorite
electro LPs of all time). It's the third album released under his
Silicon Scally alias, and the first record of his I purchased new
(for $13.99 at Platinum Records in Portland, the price sticker says).
All eight songs are long, evolving, understated electro pieces.
Sometimes cryptic and dark (Pace, Ghost Wires, Dark Matter),
sometimes more accessible and upbeat (Toneworks, Parallel Array,
Indefinite Space, Clone Alone, All Torque). The overall sound of
the record seems pleasantly bassy to me, rounded and smooth.
There are no bad tracks here, in my opinion. The title track in
particular stands out for its deep growling bassline. (Reminds me of a
good reese bass).
I really like the track arrangement presented on the vinyl - two per
side for a total of eight feels right. Toneworks and Pace are good
openers, and the title track is an excellent closer. Listening to
the album from start to finish makes sense and that's usually how I
consume it, in one sitting.
I think this is a proper classic, a near-perfect album. Dark Matter
isn't obscure, most fans of 2000s electro will have heard it. But if
you haven't, give it a listen. It's available as a download from
Carl Finlow's bandcamp and Satamile Records NYC's bandcamp
as well as Clone and Juno. The vinyl is long out of
print and is going for what look to me like unreasonable prices on discogs,
so if you see one used at the record store snap it up.
The Breakdance And Motivate EP by Eggfooyoung.
Released by Touchin' Bass in March of 2004. Vinyl, 12".
Flac, 16bit/44.1khz, ~141M. Tracklist from the side B label,
durations and file size from my stored recordings of the vinyl.
No.
Artist / Title
BPM
Dur.
A1.
Eggfooyoung / B-Boys Take Control
130
04:49
A2.
Eggfooyoung / Electric Motivators
128
05:00
A3.
Eggfooyoung / Bad Dream
000
02:12
B1.
Eggfooyoung / Pop And Lock
133
05:15
B2.
Eggfooyoung / Bass Bin
115
05:03
B3.
Eggfooyoung / Lake Oceola
000
01:29
B4.
Eggfooyoung / First Time To The Beach
000
01:57
This is one of my favorite records. I have a hard time thinking of
an electro EP of the 2000s that I like more. I got into the style
around the turn of the millennium by digging through used bins;
this was one of the first new records I picked up that I really
connected with.
I don't have too much to say about the three ambient pieces here.
The crunchy, menacing, noisy Lake Oceola is my favorite. They're a
nice addition to the EP.
The beat-driven tracks are where the action is. All four are carried
by a combination of bass, snappy drums, and sound FX
(zaps, wind chimes, scratching, distant vocals, other playful bits).
There's a noticeable lack of obvious melody or chord progression in
the first three. The fourth, Bass Bin, has a nice synth pad that
smooths it out.
I end up mostly paying attention to the drum program, to the changes
in beat and texture.
It's a similar listening experience to a particularly spare electro
instrumental mix, the kind you'd find on the B-side of a 12" single.
Music for boomboxes, for dancing with brooms.
The Breakdance And Motivate EP is available as a
digital download over at Touchin' Bass's bandcamp page, so go
check it out. Like the State Logik & Jacob record
I wrote about last month this EP was in my bag for most summer shows
at Ground Kontrol, making it another arcade classic.
All You Need, Scenes by State Logik & Jacob.
On Narcotix Inc, released in 2000.
Vinyl, 12". Flac 16bit/44.1khz, ~137M. Tracklist from the side B label
(with corrections from the discogs release page), durations from my
stored recordings:
No.
Artist / Title
BPM
Dur.
A1.
State Logik / Electro Boogie
119
06:25
A2.
State Logik / All You Need
130
06:34
B1.
Jacob / Scene 1
123
02:34
B2.
Jacob ft. G. Pole / Scene 2
116
02:35
B3.
Jacob / Scene 3
095
02:35
B4.
Jacob / Scene 4
120
02:34
A note on the discogs page for this 12" states that the A-side
track titles are the reverse of what the center label says. That
makes some sense, A1 sounds more like an "electro boogie" than A2
does. The tracklist above reflects that note.
The State Logik tracks are the reason I picked up this record. Both
are warm, smooth, minimalist electro jams. Sampled drums, a snare
that snaps, a bass synth, pads, short vocoded lyrics, sound FX.
These aren't the flashiest songs, I can see how a listener could
find them underwhelming, but they're easy to mix and I love 'em to bits.
I've played both of these tracks on the radio before, so you can
hear a few minutes of All You Need in MTT177 and a few
minutes of Electro Boogie in MTT015.
The B-side is more complicated. It's dirtier, harder, more distorted.
Scene 1 is a Tusken Raiders Sexy Sandpeople style jam, tough
drum machine beats.
Scene 2 seems to be in 3/4 (6/8?) and has a jazzy sound to it with
its drum samples and nice swirling pad.
Scene 3 is a chunky swamp beat, one for the bog creatures.
I can't work out the meter of Scene 4, one part is maybe running in
4/4 and the rest is doing something else. In any case it's another
strong breakbeat sketch, like the rest of these Scenes. Scene 3
can be heard back in MTT074; I have yet to play the
others for any recorded mixes.
There's a chunk of Narcotix Inc available at beatport
and at junodownload, but I couldn't find this release.
Which is a shame, as the price for a used copy over at discogs
looks a bit unreasonable right now. So my recommendation is, if
you're ever out digging and spot this for a few bucks, pick it up.
This record was in my bag for just about every
Logical Aggression summer show at Ground Kontrol
since 2010, making it an arcade classic.
Shoutout to the fine folks at 360 Vinyl who filed in this in their
electro section. I'd have never seen it otherwise.
I started this website back in 2016 with the intention of blogging about
my music collection. It seems like a good time to try that again. No
downloads or audio samples will be provided with these posts (for what I
hope are obvious reasons). I just want to talk about music.
Without further ado...
I picked this up from a mailorder shop in the mid 2000s as part of
a large order (one of those records you throw in to try and get your money's
worth out of shipping fees, you know). This is the only record I remember
from that order. It's terrific. I like all these tracks.
The first five are all electro tunes. The two Dopplereffekt
tracks have been edited: Porno Actress is double the length of the
version on Gesamtkunstwerk, and Plastiphilia is a combination of
Plastiphilia 1 & 2. These two edits in particular are perfect for DJs,
four minutes and change is exactly the right length.
RAC's Quexos is the original version (I think). Metaphysica by
K1 has also been edited, I hear some reverse snares and things
going on. The Advent's Elektra Fix is unique to this compilation,
I believe.
The remaining pieces are heady techno. C-On like Elektra Fix is original
to this compilation. Waveterm by Damon Wild & Function and
Flower Child by Morgan are both big tunes, New York techno by way of
Synewave.
Outline's track is listed as Untitled on the label and sleeve, but a
helpful discogs comment identifies it as Blueprint 5 B3. Luke Slater's
Battle is the most abrasive track on the comp, and the one I like the least,
though it does command respect. That leaves Joey Beltram's bouncy
lopsided Believer and Surgeon's menacing Scorn.
20 years later and the whole compilation still sounds great.
Sides A, C, D, and E all play at 45 RPM and are cut loud.
I've read that The Advent remastered everything for this release, but
there's nothing on the packaging to indicate that.
I don't think this is available new anywhere, so if you want it you'll
have to find a used copy. Check your local used bins or the
discogs marketplace. It's very much worth seeking out.
All photos in this post were taken by me (that's why they're blurry)
of my copy (which is beat-up and stickered). The center label photos
on discogs are tiny, so I'll close with some medium-size unreadable ones:
Selections from the Megatech Body CD (AKA the Ghost In The Shell PSX
soundtrack) and the two Ghost In The Shell Tribute albums from 2004.
Fast techno, 130 to 140 BPM.
Right-click save-as here or on the spectrogram above to download
the mix.
Wikipedia tells me that Takkyu Ishino produced the soundtrack
album, and it's a terrific sampling of Detroit, European, and Japanese techno.
The selection on the two tribute albums is similar, but updated for 2004.
Stand Alone Complex2nd Gig was airing on TV roughly when the
two tribute albums were released, so they may have been tie-in or
promotional products.
So, these three albums are amazing. From the artists assembled, to the
particular tracks, to the packaging and art direction. Way more hits
than misses. A lot of great tracks didn't make it into this hour:
CJ Bolland's tunes (as BCJ), The Advent's tunes, Adam Beyer...
I tried hard to get Mijk Van Dijk's Fuchi Koma in, but couldn't
find a spot for it. Maybe next time.
I bought these discs on eBay in '05 or '06 and unfortunately mine are
bootlegs. Specifically the Ever Animebootleg of the
Megatech Body CD, and the Miya Records bootlegs of the
first and second Tribute albums. I've wanted to record
a mix of these tracks since then, and am happy to have done it now.
I'll close with some blurry photos of the cover art and back tray art
of my bootleg editions; be sure to click through the tracklist links
above to check out the official art too.
Oh, and feel free to fast forward past my absentminded rambling at the
beginning of the recording. I spent way too long introducing the show
this time.
