Gridfaceunderground music reviewsMove D & Benjamin Brunn: Songs from the Beehive- June 26, 2008 Smallville, 2008 Move D is a producer whose music is all over the map. His classic album Kunststoff was a late example of &8220;intelligent&8221; techno, while his recent Workshop releases seem inspired by Detroit house. His three BineMusic albums (including another collaboration with Brunn) are generally dubby and downtempo, while his recent Modern Love 12" is dubby and uptempo. As much as I appreciate David Moufang&8217;s willingness to experiment, he may be a little too prolific. Songs...http://www.gridface.com/reviews/songs_from_the_beehive.html Flying Lotus: Los Angeles- June 20, 2008 Warp Records, 2008 Somehow I missed out on the first couple of Flying Lotus releases, but Los Angeles is a whole lot of fun. This is instrumental hip-hop similar in spirit to Dilla, Dabrye, and Prefuse 73. Constant experimentation staves off any possibility of boredom. &8220;Breathe . SomethingStellar STar&8221; is a dense cluster of samples over distressed beats and a dynamic, electronic bassline. &8220;Beginners Falafal&8221; bristles with loudly compressed digital elements and magical...http://www.gridface.com/reviews/los_angeles.html Ron Hardy Playlists- June 18, 2008 Lately I&8217;ve been researching pre- and early-house, and there&8217;s no better source than the playlists of Ron Hardy. It seems that history is always viewed through the lens of whatever is currently en vogue, and to that end a great deal of attention has been paid to early rhythm tracks. Parsing through MP3s from the tapes of people who were actually there, however, there&8217;s no escaping that house and techno are direct descendants of disco. Thanks to its mass commercialization in...http://www.gridface.com/features/ron_hardy_playlists.html Bvdub: Dreams of Red Chambers- June 13, 2008 Quietus, 2008 Bvdub&8217;s latest CD-R sees him straying farther from the dub techno mold where so many other artists seem to be stuck. These tracks are slow and ambient, but they are obviously influenced by the sound of early nineties techno. &8220;Different Place Different Time&8221; is beatless and pretty, with a female vocal snippet panning over fuzzily distorted synths. &8220;12 Degrees&8221; is slow and sensuous, with Detroit-friendly synthesizer pulses over a background hiss....http://www.gridface.com/reviews/dreams_of_red_chambers.html |