| Track: | Rating: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Just A Fuckin Idiot | | | | | |
| 2. Far-Out Son Of Lung And The Ramblings Of A Madman | | | | | |
| 3. Appendage | | | | | |
| 4. Slider | | | | | |
| 5. Smokin Japanese Babe | | | | | |
| 6. You're Creeping Me Out | | | | | |
| 7. Eyes Pop - Skin Explodes - Everybody Dead | | | | | |
| 8. It's My Mind That Works | | | | | |
| 9. Dirty Shadows | | | | | |
| 10.Tired | | | | | |
| 11.Egypt | | | | | |
| 12.Are They Fightin Us | | | | | |
| 13.Hot Knives | | | | | |
| 14.A Study Of Six Guitars | | | | | |
| 15.An End Of Sorts | | | | | |
| 16.Kai | | | | | |
| 17.Amoeba | | | | | |
| 18.A Study Of Six Guitars | | | | | |
| 19.Snake Hips | | | | | |
[...] an experiment from the electronica scene of the mid-'90s [...] music transcending the need for live concert experiences [...] sound pulsating through cyberspace [...] Cobain and Dougans seek a new sonic experience? [...] approached with a tone of cynicism, how could it be otherwise? [...] live performances to interested audients [...] a CD culled from three shows [...] one such show featured Robert Fripp [...] guitar textures filter through the album, the source not always clear [...] hero worship itself transcends the spirit of novelty [...] one audient flashes lights through cyberspace, is immortalized in the first title [...] "Could you leave the lights alone please? Stop flashing your fucking lights!" [...] trance-techno lead-in, with assorted mechanical sounds [...] nice layering job [...] "JAFI" as the sound of the age of industry [...] and of urban alienation [...] which also applies to "FSoL+tRoaM" [...] CD single issue featured image of a Chinese youth in London [...] track features HEAVY beats [...] crunching guitar too [...] and a horn sample [...] not as complex as some other material here, ah well [...] Appendage [...] ambient synths and found sounds [...] a segueway, I suppose [...] Slider [...] heavy beats again, sustain effect [...] clearly meant for dancing, but uncommonly ragged [...] assorted chanting [...] ambient outro [...] Smokin Japanese Babe [...] featuring a bass sample by John Williams, electronically treated and amplified [...] which actually works incredibly well [...] the album really starts to peak around here [...] walking bass line as electronica, and horn sample returns [...] You're Creeping Me Out [...] spacious piece, four-note lead melody [...] sounds from the crowd, which presumably explains the title [...] Eyes Pop [...] more ambience [...] transcendent'ly beautiful, with apparent harpsichord [...] more space in this track [...] It's My Mind That Works [...] vocal samples, ambient piano line, drone [...] sound of Tibetan horn, if I'm not mistaken [...] Dirty Shadows [...] extremely high guitar tones, recorded "in the red" [...] is that Fripp?, asks the idolatrous audient [...] transformation into pure trance, and time-delayed keyboards [...] Tired [...] well into ambient territory now, drones take the place of beats [...] a horse gallops through a stormy terrain [...] toneburst, guitar re-emerges [...] Egypt [...] "Enter", commands a seductive voice [...] crickets and drones, and heavy beats [...] chanting in the background [...] the beat is a deliberate offset [...] Are They Fightin Us [...] percussion speeds up, and the walking bass line emerges, with conga percussion [...] on to Hot Knives [...] ambient tone of the album marred (a bit) by a flashback into '80s synthpop [...] A Study Of Six Guitars [...] utter ambience, and tranquillity [...] distortion into pure texture [...] a highlight of the project, easily [...] An End Of Sorts [...] harsher industrial terrain again [...] mechanical motion surrounded by ambient garden, and a chirping noise which could be from either side [...] how ironic that the Americans should have the superior product [...] Kai: another John Williams sample, an ambient that is literally twisted [...] the audient muses that ISDN is a rare success, a work which can completely transform the mood of those in his position [...] on to Amoeba [...] fragmented vocals, watery effects [...] beats somehow detached [...] Snake Hips [...] oddly transposed, a sudden return to the themes from ISDN's beginning [...] better in re-emergence [...] brief guitar solo to end release [...] and seven years later? [...] the London underground seems not to have advanced on these graspings, from a creative standpoint [...] innovative as technology, but where are those who will walk in their footsteps? [...] or were such followers ever planned? [...] borne in the awareness that nothing is truly new under the sun, the creators forged their sound without envisioning a new age [...] a great diversion, in the end result? [...] a zone of freedom carved at a rare moment in time? [...] didn't Breton and Burroughs define the medium years ago? [...] is it freedom to be within the counter-force? [...] and where from here? [...]
Recommended.
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 21 Apr 2001)