I have a weak spot for good Detroit electro. I'm endlessly turned on bythose repetitive beats, that dystopian future groove, those analogpeaks and valleys. Because of this fetish, my collection contains farmore of this stuff than is probably healthy, but certainly favoriteshave emerged: Juan Atkins, Drexciya, Dopplereffekt and Cybotron, toname a few. I have also tuned in to the current of newer techno actspiggybacking themselves on the Detroit sound, and for the most part, Ihave been quite disappointed. Imitation may be the sincerest form offlattery, but it's also the sincerest form of boredom. Dr. Lektroluv'snew continuous mix of neo-electro acts highlights some of theseproblems. The first two tracks are perfectly realized classic Detroitsides, but then the mix takes a turn for the worse by lingering alittle too long on purposely weird, self-consciously retro stuff. Theproblem with "electroclash" is that much of the artists have forgonemusical inventiveness and production acumen in favor of veryheavy-handed, simplistic techniques that become dull after thirtyseconds. For all of their cleverness, a lot of these bands would have areal problem creating a track as good as Model 500's "Night Drive,"made twenty years ago without the benefit of a laptop. Some of theartists here are quite good: Octagon Man, Silicon Sally and thenow-ubiquitous Liaisons Dangereuses. Did all the DJs in the world meetover the summer and make a pact to spin "Peut Etre...Pas" untileveryone was completely sick of it? Radioactive Man's "Do TheRadioactive" is an interestingly textured track, not surprising sincehis volume of the Fabricseries was one of my favorites of the year. Ersatz Audio' Kitbuilderspipe in with an unbelievably overblown epic disco-house track withpretentious lyrics. The last part of the mix really loses steam, withweak tracks from the omnipresent Adult. and the overrated Crossover. T.Raumschmiere's glam-punk stomper "The Game Is Not Over" is probably myfavorite single of the year, but it feels strange sandwiched between aretarded retro track and the lightweight Oriental disco of Yellow MagicOrchestra's "Behind the Mask." In the final analysis, there isabsolutely no reason to buy or listen to this mix. Get one of thoseCD-burning programs that have a cross-fading feature and make your ownmix: it's bound to sound better than this.- Silicon Sally - The Silent Years
- Liaisons Dangereuses - Peut Etre...Pas
- Radioactive Man - Do the Radioactive
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