Customer Reviews

Lipswitch

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

this albums simply mesmerizes through an abundance of sounds. these are almost all really dense electronic pieces, somewhat akin to autechre of aphex twin, but without the harmonic keyboard washes. there is very very little melody to be found here, which is quite all right with me. these are puttering apoplectic tirades of dense sampling that will probably not please those who stand in the 'autechre are too cold and not dancy enough' camp. though, i might mention there is a descernable 4/4 beat throughout, which is sort of my only complaint, but i don't think driving to it would be nearly as pleasurable if it didn't have some sort of rythmic force.

anyway, get this if you're interested in having a cascading pile of blips, beep, filtered scratches, and other asorted inorganic sounds hurled at you. a perfect soundtrack to your robot domination fatasy.

I came across an article about Richard Devine in some local alternative newspaper and I got so intrigued that I bought the CD. This CD easily qualifies as a masterpiece of "abstract" electronic music. Every song seems to be based on many little sounds put together to form very interesting pieces of music. The CD is not that easily accessible as, say, a CD by Richard D. James. However, if you like Autechre, you'll like this CD, too. A stunning masterpiece!

Released on Warp for Europe, this mini-lp came out in America on Schematic. A scathing high speed DSP(digital signal processing) fest, this album seems absurd and mindless at first, but grows. The beats get tighter and the jittering explosion of granular stereo sound errors that frame them become more catchy as you listen. Then you start thinking about the structure. I played the second track for a friend of mine, playing the beginning and then fastforwarding to the "payoff" where the beat realty comes in half way. He immediately started counting.
"hey," he said after a minute, "that's a 28-part time signature!"

If you've got a system, represent. This is some of the phatest glitch/IDM out, and its from right in our own backyard! You can get it at NON IMPORT PRICES at any good local store-Support the American scene, buy Schematic™

Machine music, though explored for decades, has grown exponentially in the past ten years; the abundance of computers, prolific artists and specialized labels, internet cliques of fans, and that DIY aesthetic lures producers now too numerous to count to the appeal of laptop punk.

Richard Devine is the latest maniacal manipulator, and fresh off remixes of Aphex Twin (for the Warp 10 Year Compilation), Slicker, and Phoenecia among others, he drops his full length album for Schematic.

The problem with Lipswitch lies in our audience expectations; in 2000, the notion of computer chaos for it's own sake no longer impresses awe and wonder. Over eight tracks Devine traverses the familiar territory of dense programming, simple synths and structureless glitchery, without delivering a statement of direction as an artist. Striving for occasional accessibility unveils promising pieces - witness the skittering drum and bass of "Kepter" - but ultimately this album disappoints because in a time of such sonic discovery Lipswitch shows we've bleeped there, glitched that.

I bought this album after hearing Devines remix of "Come to Daddy" on a Warp Compilation and after reading a review which comapred Devine to Autechre. Unfortunately, the same flaws encountered on the remix I heard are present throughout this entire mini-album: the guy has absolutely no sense of musical structure. Almost every track suffers from Devine's obsession with trying to hurl as many improbable sounds into the mix as possible. The density of information becomes so overwheleming, there's nothing to focus on anymore: no point of reference for the listener. The only thing he shares in common with artists like Autechre and Aphex Twin (to whom he is often compared) is the fact that he creates his own unique sounds and textures via some complex synth programming. This album lacks any kind of artistic vision or verve. There's no real imagery going on at all: it's sound for sounds sake, ultimately sounding as if it had been churned out by a malfunctiong mainframe. In fact, it might as well have been.