The best is yet to come...
painter@un.org | NYC | 04/16/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Rhythm and SoundBerliners, Moritz von Oswald and Mark Ernestus will go down in the history of music as having produced the most influential body of work since the Velvet Underground. Their early work (esp. with Detroiter Juan Atkins) engendered the music now known as techno and their subsequent efforts as Basic Channel and Maurizio continue to spawn countless followers and imitators almost a decade later. Scion recently unleashed the infamous remix CD that demonstrated the compelling and persistent vitality of Basic Channel?s output. At the same time, contemporary albums by newcomers such as Swimming Pool and Veer slavishly mimic the formula. But where have Moritz and Mark gone?The answer lies deep in rhythm and sound, deep in the heart of dubness. The tip of the iceberg was 1998?s ?Showcase? CD, a hard to find masterpiece of dub/house fusion, which took the dubby side of BC to its rootical conclusion. Featuring the vocals of Domincan toaster, Tikiman, the CD was organized like an authentic reggae LP with each vocal cut followed by an instrumental or dub ?version?. This was a remarkable diversion for the technomeisters, one that left many of the fans of their former output scratching there heads, just as hardcore clash fanatics did over the release of Sandanista. But the true believers understood, Mark and Moritz had discovered the holy grail of dub and there was no turning back?The self-titled, Rhythm and Sound CD followed this in 2001. All of M&M?s CD releases are autobiographical in nature, being compilations of singles previously released on vinyl. The singles contributing to the Rhythm and Sound CD fused a new element of monochromatic ?space rock? with the prevailing influence of dub. Thus while three of the cuts are pure dub techno, No partial, Mango Drive and Smile, the balance of the CD is less rootsy and similar to the BC sound, but without the 4/4 kick drum. Now this is a brilliant CD, but frankly I prefer the dub influence to space rock. If you have similar tastes I would highly recommend downloading a mix including most of Showcase and the dubbier parts of the R&S CD, from the website of DJ Airick. Fortunately, since the last R&S CD, the duo?s vinyl releases have taken a turn into deeper and deeper dub, leaving the spacerock sound behind. A string of brilliant singles has been released, that represent a new and unprecedented form of techno-roots music wherein the technological dominance of basic channel is completely transformed to serve as the basis of an extremely dry and heavy, but incredibly rootsy reggae. The apex of which is manifested by the remarkable King and Queen of my Empire set of singles featuring the vocal work of ?classic? reggae artists, Cornel Campbell and Jennifer Lara, as well as the other releases featuring the likes of the Chosen Brothers, the all female Lovejoys, Sugar Minott protégé, Shalom. OK, Tikiman was a reasonable facsimile, but the artists I have just mentioned are the real thing, real roots artists capturing the depth and soul of Jamaican reggae at it best and remarkably R&S are up to the task. This isn?t like No Doubt playing at bounty killer or the Rolling Stones inviting inviting Peter Tosh in for a smoking guest spot, but ensemble playing of the highest order, where all of the parts are subordinated to the relentless, but dubbed out, groove. The assimilation of roots reggae is so complete that these releases hold their own against the second generation of original Jamaican masters of dub, i.e. Scientist, King Jammy, etc. and get very close to the work of Tubby himself. A claim that very few reggae artists of today can make. There is little doubt that R&S will set a new standard with their next CD compilation ? the best is yet to come"
Possibly not Rhythm & Sounds most accessible album, but stil
fetish_2000 | U.K. | 11/22/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"German Duo "Moritz Von Oswald" and "Mark Ernestus" were already applauded for their work as `Basic Channel', cutting tracks that were extremely accomplished exercises, in the minimally stripped-down techno, that they came to be known for. Their next Project "Rhythm & Sound" takes the cerebral, hypnotic and almost gloomy sound of Basic Channel, and imbues it with the clinical and reverberating bass of Dub. Thus lending the sound a more murky and ominous sound. Tracks are stretched out into long passages of repetitive combination of shuffling beats and spacious bass, that are marked by the subtle changes in tempo, and by ulitilzing their own take on the sound, they offer up modern interpretation of experimental dub, that has been filtered through their own vision and reconstructed into something more akin to a distinct hybrid of styles, that is in some parts referencing dub greats such as: King Tubby, Augustus Pablo, Lee `Scratch' Perry, Alpha & Omega, Keith Hudson. And offering a distinct nod to minimal techno's/electronica's well known names: Sandoz, Richie Hawtin, Pole, Monolake, Jan Jelinek.
What transpires is a wholly instrumental disk, that is akin to listening to an instrumental dub album. Although other Rhythm & Sound releases have brilliantly integrated vocals in their other releases. A listeners enjoyment of this album will be largely based on whether a record with virtually nothing in the way of vocals appeals or not?? Suffice to say that the lack of vocals is magnificently offset by dense and highly precise sounding percussion, that wraps around the trippy bass, exceptionally well. A complex, convoluted rhythm arrangement of thick washes of sound, that works so well by using repetition in the best way possible. What initially seems as to be overly-long tracks, with not much in the way of variation, soon....over repeated listens.....open up and reveal themselves to be tightly focused and relatively spacious sounds, that efficiently use space, silences, atmospheres and sub lows, In a remarkable way. And what is astonishing is the way, in which...what your mind might have dismissed initially as uneventful, soon begins to fully comprehend the intricacies of what being created here.
Ultimately this isn't an album, for everyone....it's a little too specialist and obscure to appeal to a wide audience, but then anyone reading these reviews, will have a fairly good idea of what to expect here anyways. Fans of the Dubby-techno of "Maurizio", or the sprawling subtle variations of "Oval", or even the more experimental end of Dub: "African Head Charage" / "Dub Syndicate". Will find much to enjoy here....admittedly the other releases that feature vocalists are a noticeably more accessible than this, but for sheer technical brilliance and skillfull manipulation of sound, this is amongst Techno-Dub / Minimal-Dub's finest albums, and a highly recommend release."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1
