my reviews of luke vibert material

weirs | at atmos | rissalecki | throbbing pouch | a polished solid | reedone | plug eps | drum 'n' bass for papa

::: Weirs [Nuutti `Gordon' Merilinen]

I have had Weirs on CD for quite some time now, and I have to admit that it has been one of my favourites for the past three months. Weirs is well composed, well programmed and never dull (though "Reservoir" gets on my nerves from time to time). These people know how to handle their equipment. Hisses, clonks, screeches and coughs in such order that my friends (mostly House-type DJs) think that I am going insane listening to music like this.

::: Weirs [Alan Parry]

The latest from Rephlex, this record brings together Luke Vibert (aka Rising High's Wagonchrist) and Jeremy Simmonds, two friends of Rich's from Cornwall. When I first got this home, I put it on the turntable amd skipped through it but wasnt too impressed as nothing stood out. On a complete listening however, I was floored - it hasnt left the turntable since. The style is hard to describe; it has a laid back, avant garde, almost 'hiphop' feel to it at times and is served with electronic pulses and all the trimmings. The fourth track, reservoir, is a bizarre melodic arrangement of transforming tones and electronic pulses which create quite a disturbing but somehow pleasing sound - I imagine this is what madness would sound like if written in musical notation. With the beginning of side three, we return to the smooth upbeat flavour as heard in Tinned Teardrop and the dissonance created by the clashing of major and minor chords. Overall, its a nice collection of tracks covering quite a broad range of flavours, the kind that might result if you put B12, Drexciya, and Black Dog Productions in a bag and shook them around for a little bit. With another strong release from the Rephlex stable, i'm led to believe that next year will be a big one for them with the amount of releases waiting to come out. Weirs comes highly reccomended. Very good. Very Rephlex.

::: At Atmos [Alan Parry]

After getting my first taste of Luke Vibert from the impressive Weirs collaboration on Rephlex, I had to have more. This EP comes in trainspotter only format and was only released on tasty red vinyl with no labels. More jazzy basslines, smooth almost hiphop beats and avant garde quirkyness. Bliss. Now where can I find Phat Lab. Nightmare?

::: At Atmos [Unknown]

I thought this was long-deleted, so the lush translucent red-vinyl-in-a-clear-sleeve that appeared on a local shelf was a bit of a surprise. Slightly more technoey, less jazzy instrumentation than his more recent work, a bit loopy in places, and frankly excellent. A good 40+ minutes worth of excellent mellow grooves.

::: Rissalecki EP [Alan Parry]

More excellence from Luke Vibert. The first track, How You Really Feel, starts of in typical funky Wagon Christ style and features a raspy vocal sample that leads into a dissonant wail. I'm wondering if the label on the second side lists the two tracks in the reverse order as the opening track, labeled "Speakers" is very much the same as "Throbbing Pouch" and, therefore, is more likely to be what's listed as the second track, "Throbbing Snatch." Anyhow, the second track, whatever its title is, is another excursion into slow laid-back beats and deep basslines. Complete the throbbing pair.

::: Throbbing Pouch [Alan Parry]

Wow. Luke Vibert returns with more laidback IDM funk and a throbbing pouch. The Wagon Christ sound is characterized by short sharp crisp percussion laid out into slow and easy jazz/funk inspired numbers with an IDM flavour - and it's all very tasty. Highlights for me include "Scrapes" "Reedin" and "Down Under" and if you liked At Atmos, you'll do well on this one too. The pouch also contains a track that features filtered shout-outs to various folks - could this the latest in-thing? His good friend and cornish counterpart RDJ did the same on Ventolin. Anyway, good luck and easy listening.

::: Throbbing Pouch [Kent Williams]

The genre known by trend mongers as trip hop made it's splash in 94. Since then the backlash has been so extreme that I've noticed people on the internet refer to it as T**P H*P, as though to name it directly would call down wrath from the gods. The bastard child of hip hop and acid jazz, trip hop is no better or worse than any other genre; it has it's share of bad and good records. Throbbing Pouch stands out as one of the more groovy, listenable discs in this vein.

What Luke Vibert does here is to take the commonplaces of trip hop to the next labels. The beats are lazy and fat, but never does he settle for a static loop repeated over and over. Similarly, the jazzy changes thrown down over the beats always have some motion in them.

Take as an example "Phase Everyday", the fourth track. Starting out with a distorted sample, in kicks a beat loop that sounds like it comes from the next room. Laid over the top is an organ and whistle figure that roams around chromatically as a variety of rhythmic sources, from a dry 808, low-resolution drum loops, and distant dog barking noises. This morphs into a syncopated DX-7 dissonant figure that dissolves into yet another chromatic chord progression. Is Joe Zawinul in the house? No -- no machine gun soloing. Is Enrico Morricone in the house? No, but he's next door.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that what Wagon Christ's got that the others don't is content. You can sit down with a drum loop sample CD and a couple of Blue Note LP's and make something that sounds like trip hop, but have you made anything that has any harmonic or rhythmic life of it's own? Probably not.

Throbbing Pouch is first and foremost, an immensely listenable album. This is one that your friends who recoil from Plastikman and Aphex Twin will love for the sneaky atmospheric haze. It's an album that is completely uncontaminated by the commonplaces of ambient music, but can be used in the same way, as a subliminal atmosphere. And those beats and cool-ass music -- hell, if Warren G could freestyle over this you'd have the rap album of the year.

Also, if you're lucky, you'll find a copy that comes with the bonus EP At Atmos which is even more chilled, less hip hoppy, and every bit as lovely.

::: Throbbing Pouch [Aran Parillo/TEEP]

**** [4 stars, tuff with little to no fluff]

The blue plate special down at the Rising High Diner is a hearty 2x12" which comes 'to go' in CD format with a ltd edition side order CD of the finger lickin At Atmos 12".

Throbbing Pouch is the creation of Chef Luke Vibert, who continues to rack up the asterisks of high praise in the wake of his rephlex gourmet beat box bouillabaisse, Weirs, and his minty break beef souffle of a Ventolin remix.

The 'pouch' fits right nicely between these two previous offerings with a strong jazz seasoning all it's own. (I'm talkin sax, vibes, and even the occasional lounge back up vocals.) The beats are downtempo and almost exclusively "sample based" with the occasional highlight of a pungent beat box threaded through the meal. Subtle keyplays raise this 'acid jazz' well above the McDonalds happymeals in the bins next door and firmly into the bin labeled "IDM".

::: Throbbing Pouch [Derek Jordan]

Luke Vibert definitely caught me by surprise with this LP. I had missed the At Atmos, Rissalecki & Plug 1 & 2 EP's, so after hearing vibes of Luke doing "trip hop", I was reluctant to get Throbbing Pouch. I wasn't dissapointed. All I can say is that he did a really good job with the jazzy bass, r&b/funk samples & slow, lingering groove through all 17 tracks.

'Reedin' comes out at me like a skanky lil' british b-boy hip hop groove(are there b-boys in Britian?), 'Down Under' to me is a Phat Lab Nightmare flashback, with a little 'trip hop' flair to it. 'Phase Everyday' is a fresh new look at an old jazzy bass sample. To quote Cypress Hill: "light it up, roll it up, smoke it up, inhale, exhale..." 'Throbbing Pouch' again has shades of P.L.N. but the little melodies sprinkled throughout the track lead you out of the darkness.

'Rexcist' is one of my favorites, because it has that dubby, smoky sound similar to Richard Kirk's 'World War III' track from Virtual State. 'Intermission' has to be from PLN. 'Pull My Strings' with it's violin sample gets a little stale after 80 seconds, but a nice thought, though...'Spotlight' has the best musical arrangement, with what sounds like an electronic "kitten" and a drunk Darth Vader voice. The melody is real vibey, too. I can dig it, man.

'Scrapes' is also cool as well, with the sampled voices, but 'Night Owls' caught my attention more with the funky guitar sample, and sounds just like something from the '70's TV show Baretta, or just about any Quinn Martin production. I am still laughing at one of these two tracks, because of the way it sounds...it's a little TOO 1970's for me. 'EZ Listener' is very weird(is that luke doing the vocals?) 'Vibes' sounds like a good start for a smooth Mary J Blige ballad. 'Underground Level' and 'All My Fingers' didn't move me much, but 'Ring Piece' definitely hit the spot. I was nodding my head through the entire track. Couldn't it have gone on for another hour or so? I guess i'll have to buy another copy and make it so!

::: A Polished Solid [Alan Parry]

We know who he is, we know what he does. Magic. The title track starts things off with that crisp Vibert sound wrapped around a rather wacky sample of "Oh, Christ." Radart opens the flipside with more of that funky freestyle drumming sound and one of the best breaks I've heard in ages. As the drums drop out, some distorted hissing highs kick in followed by what sounds like the opening to a news radio show in lofi sound, then topped off with a little military style drumming before its back to the bassline. Frogs Belly plays out the EP with one of those Vibert jazz improv sessions complete with all the trimmings. You can almost smell the smoke.

::: Reedone UK [Alan Parry]

Luke Vibert with yet another EP, this time of remixes from the Throbbing Pouch. The A side features a remix of Reedin in typical Wagon Christ style but is overshadowed by the brilliance of the second side. The Aphex Twin remix opens the flip side with a delicious afx interpretation of jungle, distorting its form and breaking it up in to short sharp bursts of noise. If this is the future I like it. The second track, the oven baked mix, is equally attractive with its ethereal breaks and pushing jungle percussion. Best 12" of the summer.

::: Reedone UK [Tom Churchill]

Been around for a few weeks now, but I'm glad I snapped it up. Vibert's own take on 'Reedin' is nice - subtle junglist programming under a jazzy, live-sounding jam, only slightly marred by annoying speeded-up speech samples. The Boymerang mix is more orthodox ambient drum 'n' bass, pleasant enough, but not particularly outstanding. Aphex Twin mix. Wow! Loosely based around the ideas of jungle, he creates a percussive masterpiece - hyper-complex filtered, pitchbent, flanged, phased, distorted, metallic, intricate pieces of what might once have been a breakbeat are shaped into a very interesting piece of futuristic drum'n'bass. I can't wait for his Hangable Auto Bulb EP...

::: Reedone UK [Aran Parillo/TEEP/Not Mason Jones]

a 1. reedin (redone)

My pick of the litter. Vibert's one side forty fiver is a well paced retake of perhaps the finest moment on T.P. You know the lazy drags on muted brass and plinky string play? well, now meet the new shelf rattling bassline and a super shuffle low tempo Foul Playesque Vibertized break loop groove. Fresh.

aa 1. spotlight (aphex twin mix)

Hold tight for the spotlight. If you were turned off by the spastic bass remixes of ventolin you'll just have to accept some new material for your 'Soundtrack for Hairpulling'. Frantic oblique percussion strides through the studio. As fluid as a rhino. Man, this one is going to piss everyone right off. I love it. It'll be a freeke day in clubland when the likes of this travels coast2coast in support of a little top of the pop.

2. pull my strings (oven baked mix)

The most straight forward and smooth mix in the pocket. If you took the rolling beast remixes in stride, then this one should join you as you round the pitch bend. Everything that you need is right there. Bass, bass, and some finger picked bass.

Final Analysis: The magic of Throbbing Pouch creeps up like an acid flashback. Don't fight it... feel it.

::: Reedone US [Alan Parry]

Wagon Christ goes domestic with a limited edition of 500 white labels of the Redone EP. It contains the same three mixes as the import version including the excellent Hangable Auto Bulb style Aphex Twin mix, but also throws in an exclusive fourth track to bait the line. The addition is a Freaks Mix of All My Fingers, the last track on the Throbbing Pouch, and as you might imagine differs greatly from the original. It starts out with a few kicks and then before you know it, you're flying along on the back of speeding breakbeats that seem to trip over each other, Vibert style.

::: Plug 1,2,3 [Unknown]

Everybody kept telling me to listen to Plug cos it was "weird shit". Unfortunatly due to lack of a place to get this stuff I couldn't do so until I came across Riddim Records. When I did I snapped these up and bunged them straight on. Of course a lot of this will be old history for some of you - but it's new to me - maybe it'll be new to someone else. Going on the 3 12"s I definitely enjoyed Plug 1 and 2 better then 3. The use of the harp and string section with the "angel choir" from some old movie during "7.10" and "3.41" on Plug 1 was particularly interesting on a breakbeat record and immediatly endeared it to me. Over time though, I'm finding that "7:44" on the B side of Plug 1 with the strange phased gurgling noises and odd atmospherics is a firm favourite. All of the tracks are highly enjoyable though despite not being quite what I'd call "stuff that would get the dance floor moving".

Plug 3 was a slight disappointment compared to Plug 1 and 2 in that I expected more "weird shit" but to be honest it was a bit tame by comparison. That's not to say it's not good. It is good. It's just not quite as innovative (IMO) as 1 and 2. Additionally, one track "Brave Lick (Let's Get Down)" which has a sample of some guy repeatedly saying "Let's Get Down" I found rather irritating. However, thats the price of experimental music. I'm sure that there are many people who find the harps I like on Plug 1 irritating.

SUMMARY: Plug 1 and 2 - Loved them - you will too if you like Jungle that's "experimental". Some of it is pretty weird texturally (not so much in terms of rhythm - a straight 4/4). Get's 9/10 from me. Plug 3 - Not as good but still highly enjoyable. Get it to complete the collection if you happen to like Plug. This one gets 7/10.

::: Plug 3 - Versatile Crib Funk [Edward Pond]

Unfortunately I missed out on the first two so I immediately bought this promo when I saw it. This is pure excellence from Luke Vibert as we have come to expect. I now see why Richard James said that Children Talking was supposed to be in the style of Luke's jungle tracks, they do sound similar in the way they chop up their breakbeats.

Brave Lick starts us off with a lovely breakbeat and a Viberty melody. The track is quite long but very well arranged and never gets boring. The other tracks hold more interest for me with more emphasis on basslines which sound fantastic through my new KEF Coda 7s.

I can't compare this to the previous plugs but I have to say that the whole 4-tracker is Vibert perfection IMHO. Any more info on the plug compilation CD?

::: Plug 3 - Versatile Crib Funk [Alan parry]

IDM workhorse of the year, Luke Vibert, returns with his third in the excellent Plug series. Plug3 continues the junglesque excursions, starting off with Brave Lick (Let's Get Down), a smooth melodic funk track with rapid tin-can percussion and a "Let's Get Down" vocal sample. Also, love that short telephone break towards the end. Track two, Versatile, is a constantly evolving piece that goes through a number of changes over its duration, always working into something different whether it be jungle madness or just a sleazy funk track. The flip side opens with Tuff Rinse, another darkish jungle track, and then onto Crib Funk which opens with some bad surf music and transforms into a majestic ambient jungle track. More Plug please.

::: Drum'n'Bass For Papa [Unknown]

I was a bit worried about this seeing as I wasn't as impressed by Plug 3 as 1 and 2. Was he on a downward spiral? However, my fears were unfounded. A good 75% of this is the weird stuff I like. The remaining 25% seemed to me to be a little bit like treading water to fill out the album. But it's worth it for the good bits which are at least up to the same standard as Plug 1/2.

Unfortunatly I can't give any track names cos there weren't any with the promo I got. However, there was one particularly nice track with a muted trumpet section which particularly did something for me. There was another track where I was actually SHOCKED to find him drifting out of 4/4 time which almost worked! That one would kill a dance floor. Maybe one to play when you want to get rid of people. Thats not to say it's a bad track. It's interesting - particularly polyrhythmically (and when I say that I mean polyrythmns as in two different time signitures being played simultaneously not two breakbeats being played at the same time). But you listen to this stuff with your head not your feet and thats the crux of Plug I guess.

SUMMARY: This is definitely worth having if you're into Plug. Again some is very "experimental" so don't expect to move dance floors but great for listening to at home. 8.5/10