If English is your first language and you could translate my old Italian text, please contact me.
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Rupert Parkes lancio` il progetto Photek nel 1994, dopo una mediocre carriera
di dj e alcuni singoli sotto diversi pseudonimi
(Code of Practice, Aquarius, Studio Pressure, Truper, Sentinel).
Con Photek si riprometteva
di sperimentare sul genere drum'n'bass, in particolare facendo tesoro delle
sue esperienze jazz.
Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu e Fifth Column (Two Swords Technique, 1997)
sono in realta` ispirati alle arti marziali giapponesi, e poco si prestano
al ballo. U.F.O. (Metalheadz) e Into The 90s (Metalheadz) non
dimostrano particolare buon gusto. A rendere celebre Photek e`
il drum'n'bass altamento cinematico dell'EP
The Hidden Camera (Virgin, 1996), e non tanto
le mitragliate e i break convulsi di KJZ quanto
la title-track infiorettata di effetti spettrali (rintocchi jazzati di
pianoforte, languidi droni ambientali delle tastiere elettroniche).
I due singoli storici sono stati raccolti su
Risc Vs. Reward (Virgin, 1997).
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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
Modus Operandi (Astralwerks, 1997) is a triumph of recording techniques.
The all-instrumental tracks employ massive doses of sampling and electronics.
Photek's music has three elements to it. First comes the dance, which is never
pure energy, and it is often drowned in metaphysical atmospheres.
Hidden Camera builds a hypnotic texture of
neurotic drum'n'bass drumming, jazzy bass lines and sparse piano notes, then
lets cosmic drones and ambient strings sail on top of it.
The most propulsive track, Trans 7, is inhabited by a multitude of
subliminal electronic effects and is continuously changing below the
tribal surface.
Second, the psychological aspect, part Alfred Hitchcock and part noir.
Minotaur mixes disquieting tidbits of animal voices and metallic
reverbs coming from the sewers.
124, possibly the standaout here, has anemic beats immersed in gothic
humming of the bass and languid waves of synthesizers.
Finally, Photek loves to flirt with jazz and the avantgarde.
The syncopated synthesizer theme of
Aleph 1 is a bunch of androids dancing on a desert moon.
Modus Operandi is carried by a latin-jazz piano theme over a backdrop
of soul strings.
KJZ is a cross between a free-jazz jam for bass and drums and a
rock and roll drums solo.
The limit of Photek's rhythmic poems is that they often sound artificial and
cold.
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If English is your first language and you could translate my old Italian text, please contact me.
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Alcuni singoli del 1994-96
(in particolare Seven Samurai, Rings Aroung Saturn,
UFO, The Water Margin)
e alcuni remix inediti vengono raccolti su
Form And Function (Astralwerks, 1998), e dimostrano tutto sommato
quanto la moda sia futile.
I remix di questo album sono di una banalita` imbarazzante: chiunque dotato di
macchine elettroniche e digitali di questo genere potrebbe comporre remix come
questi (forse pochi comporrebbero remix cosi` poco originali).
Mancano sia Book Of Changes sia First Sequence, che furono
forse i migliori dei suoi primi singoli (e i suoi capolavori con
The Hidden Camera e Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu).
Quando ha l'intuizione giusta, Photek e` uno degli intellettuali postmoderni
della discoteca, ma forse nessuno prima di lui era mai riuscito a rendere
cosi` noiosa la musica da ballo.
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(Clicka qua per la versione Italiana)
If Photek's previous albums had promoted him from drum'n'bass dj to avantgarde jazz composer,
Solaris (Source, 2000)
is a tribute to the music he left behind.
A techno album as he has never made before (Glamourama,
it revitalizes the genre while remaining true to Photek's neurotic aesthetics.
A few songs (Mine To Give, Can't Come Down) are truly songs (i.e.,
with a singer), a direct link to Chicago house.
A little drum'n'bass (Terminus) and a little trip-hop (Lost Blue
Heaven) prove his technical skills.
It only lacks the bold vision of early Photek.
Form And Function Vol 2 (2007) is another collection of remixes and
rarities.
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