Future

A Journey Through The Electronic Underground (Virgin)
by Malcom E

So, the idea is that Gillian Anderson (the name’s alien to me) decided to record some vocals over the theme song to her show, Future Fantastic, as performed by Hal. Some record company exec with a brown-nose for a good sell got wind of it, and decided to let Gillian pick out 22 electro songs and make a two disc compilation called Future: A Journey Through The Electronic Underground. Now, with bands like The Chemical Brothers, Massive Attack, Brian Eno, and Jah Wobble, I don’t know how “underground” it could really be. What I do know, however, is that Agent Scully has a good ear for the technology music.

The first track is the one with Dana’s voice, called “Extremis.” The music’s pretty good, but her vocals are trying far too hard to be sexy. There’s so much forced sensuality in her husky whisper that it’s hard to take her seriously. Better off cutting open freaks of nature, honey. Things pick up, however, with Fluke‘s “Atom Bomb (Atomix 1),” a 22 megaton dance floor shake down with pain on tap. As Photek enters the room with “KJZ,” you can tell that this ain’t no simplified drum track album. No, all the songs feature complex rhythms that jump and twist throughout. Well, at least on the CD. I’ll get to that later. Anyway, “KJZ” is an impossibly elaborate drum ‘n’ bass number that focuses on the sounds of cymbals and a lopsided upright bass. The drums are frenetic in their execution, achieving combinations that are inconceivable to any human drummer. And that’s what I like about it. The technology that exists has been used far too long as replacements for humans. Now, they’re being used as über-drummers, able to reach for beats previously unknown to mankind. Or not.

Either way, Future Sounds of London step up next, and mellow the whole thing out with “Smokin’ Japanese Babe” and a trumpet that can be heard for Miles, in a kind of blue way. The bass slinks along behind, in full zoot, and a shuffling bass drum brings up the rear. Sinking ever deeper into you mind, Massive Attack ultra-dubs “Karmacoma (Bumper Ball Dub)” as an initial reggae offbeat keyboard begins to skitter around the song, careening from side to side. That piece of brain taffy leads us to “Winter Ceremony (Howie B Left Foot Mix)” by Sacred Spirits, a mystical chanting journey through the ether, perfectly designed to heal your feet and head… Just in time to get knocked on your ass by The Chemical Brothers, and their “Loops of Fury.” Oooh, these boys certainly know how to rock. I think I’ve found their formula. Set up a groove, then start mixing in any fuzzy sound low, then bring it up, up, up, mix in more high end, up, UP, UP, and then BOOM! crush your skull with low end. Repeat. Hey, whatever works. FSOL come back with “Snake Hips,” which includes a Snakefinger (now-dead guitarist for the Residents) sounding guitar line over, what else, a cool-as-all-get-out groove. This leads us to the next CD, which is mostly ambient.

Now, as anyone can tell you, or at least anyone who has listened to the second disc, ambient music is a soothing, quiet, relaxed atmosphere of sound, slight sonic elements seeping in and out of your consciousness. The main intention stated by the founder of ambient, Brian Eno, was to create a music that blended with your surroundings. I personally find a kick in cranking the stuff in my headphones and letting the music become the entirety of my environment. But I’m weird like that. Anyway, the point is that while, like in any musical style, there are differences in compositional technique and fluctuations in texture and tone, the songs still blend together into one large song. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially when you’re coming down off a trip. But to review it track by track would be difficult, because it would mean I would have to keep breaking my reverie. Needless to say, I don’t want to do that (maybe it’s just ’cause I’m lazy). So the second disc contains pieces by the aforementioned Eno, Harold Budd, David Sylvian, Paul Schutze, Air, Jah Wobble, David Toop and others. Hal’s on this disc too, so I guess we know to whom Virgin’s giving the big push. If it’s all the same to you, I’ll stick to my deep appreciation of Gillian Anderson’s talents other than as a vocalist. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must scour the Web for dirty pictures of her.