various artists: bip-hop generation v.1

va-bhg.jpg (12k) various artists: bip-hop generation v.1
(bip-hop - 2000)

Taking a look at (listen to) the constantly-redesigned world of modern electronics, the tracks of bip-hop generation v.1 chronicle an evolutionary process which is happening right before our ears...

Various artists each contribute one or two tracks to the opening chapter in a to-be-ongoing series of electronic explorations headed up by philippe petit (who interviews with us this month.

The comp puts its best foot first IMO, leading with the drifting electronic abstractions of American marumari's "a girl i met at the rest stop"; those hazy streams are soon enough pepped up by spunky urban rhythms amongst other atmospherics, then a series of warbling "leads" and blips. Josh Presseisen's second, more-experimental offering finds "the computer kid" (5:33) playing in grittier territories. An unedited live performance from Germany's schneider tm (a.ka. Dirk Dresselhaus and Michael Beckett), "KPTM b diskursive" wafts between clunkily thumping beats and various electronic outbursts, which at times become overpowering in their buzzing, blurting assaults on the gentler main theme.

Recording as massimo, Sicilian Massimiliano Sapienza's two microscopically-inclined pieces are "tonali" which weaves a couple of borrowed Ryoji Ikeda samples into its binary tapestry of blips, hums, crackles, flutters and wows; and "where's your heel" which seems to be backed by a too-rapidly-beating heart and clockwork accompaniments, including assorted pitch-shifted alarm chimes. The Netherlandic trio of Frans de Waard, Roel Meelkop and Peter Duimelinks gather as goem; displaying the more subdued side of glitchtronics, the subtle pops and hisses of their "comp negen" coalesce into an enigmatic (and easy to sink into) transmission from the heart of the machine.

Gentle washes of uncertain origins ripple beneath "mystic 2k"; ocasionally recognizable as guitar strings, soft chimes spurt and flow amongst cut-and-paste arrangements of faint buzzes from France's ultra milkmaids. Modem squawks from the U.K. announce the arrival of phonem's "data control" (11:12), soon to be followed by spattering drum-n-bass beats and a dreamily wavering drone-and-tone sequence which eventually is discarded in favor of purely percussive contortions. Elliot Perkins' rhythms sequences vary interestingly, with drumhits occasionally being replaced by electronic squiggles. His second track, "don't vote for your enemies", features housey (though vague) vibes being pummeled by adroitly-placed, mildly-abrasive e-beats.

bip-hop generation v.1 delivers a 74-minute overview of electronica's everchanging face; these various artists cross-pollinate various hybridized soundforms with DSP wizardry and good old experimentational curiosity. Recommended8.6 not only for its wide coverage, but for some very cool sounds coming from several different angles.

Dutch East India carries this and many more eclectic recordings.

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This review posted February 28, 2001

AmbiEntrance © 2001-1997 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).