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"[KOMFORT.LABOR] PRESENTS NATIVE LAB"

WMF Records
Berlin's WMF Club is home for Saturday night Komfort.Labor events suchas Native Instruments' Native Labs. The company is maker of modularsound software Reaktor and I'm assuming that the 14 artists found hereused it for these exclusive tracks. Some of electronica's elite are ofcourse to be found here amongst the line-up: Kid 606, Jake Mandell,Richard Devine, Errorsmith, F.X. Randomiz, Rob Acid, Solar X, Kent,Vladislav Delay, Siegmar Kreie, Mike Dred, Nitrada vs. Vger, Vert andLazyfish. If anything, the resulting hour of audio proves that Reaktoris a really flexible environment for electronic music makers.Everything from looping soundscapes to inexplicable experiments tothrobbing techno is represented, though there's an especially strongemphasis on chaos and/or rhythm throughout. Of the lot, I'd say onlyErrorsmith's annoying metallic beat thing is worthy of skipping and Kid606's bland "Damn Dre Why You Always Hating On Me" doesn't live up toits cool title. The following three are my favorites: Mandell's"Broccoli Crisis" is a seriously storming dance number that would makethe most timid clubber get their ass out on the floor and move; F.X.Randomiz's "Danuni" melodically churns a granular mass of bits andbobs; snd Vladislav Delay performs his usual magic trick for "The SuperHas Left The Model" by skillfully turning microscopic digitalia insideout, almost at random. The interactive ROM portion might just be themost interesting aspect of the disc, that is, if I ever figure it out.A Reaktor-like application lets you graphically manipulate the "what","when" and "how" of Lazyfish's "Mewark-Stoderaft" on the fly. Fun, forawhile.

 

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