stream of electroconsciousness

I have been listening to a lot of Hybrid and Way Out West lately, and I decided to indulge in one of my favorite eMusic activities: following the rabbit down the hole. Here are a few great discoveries I made along the way…

Hybrid

Starting from Hybrid’s artist page, I started browsing g4nym3d3’s Top eMusic Electronica Albums&EPs member list. There is a lot here I am not familiar with, but I don’t often have time to check every album in member lists and typically stick to recommendations that have some description so I know what I am getting into. Half way down the list I find an artist named 2 Bit Pie, who just happen to be comprised mostly of members of Fluke. Strong production and electro-grooves in a similar vein. While not quite as good as their ancestral incarnation, the album is certainly worth the downloads.

Being a fan of their remix work both in the mainstream market (Radiohead, Moby) and the indie scene (UNKLE, Carl Cox) I decide to search simply for Hybrid Remix. Having already grabbed the remixes off Never, Never, Land and PHUTURE 2000 (the only song I can really stand on that album) I grab Albatross (Hybrid Remix) by Chris Coco Feat. Peter Green. I wasn’t too sure this was even that Hybrid’s remix (not a foolproof way to search for these things) but Wikipedia confirms. Sounds like it could be an early mix, but it’s pleasant enough.

The next remix I grab yields more satisfying results. Towards the Sun (Hybrid Remix) lands me on the Future Funk Squad’s artist page and subsequently to their full length album Audio Damage. A remarkably solid slab of electrobreaks and technohop I have never heard of before. The artist name still reminds me of a throw away George Clinton title though.

Way Out West

Their artist page doesn’t have much that catches my eye, but I know the duo is comprised of Jody Wisternoff and Nick Warren, so I start there. We have some EPs by Jody W, but they are far too straightforward and brash for my tastes. Somehow I don’t think this OMI is the same Omi as they feature on their latest album (although for all I know it very well could be). However, Nick Warren’s mixes are much more my taste right now.

Nick Warren - Shanghai I already have and it’s fantastic, so I check out Nick Warren - Paris. It is just as consistent and well crafted as the other mix I have, and I notice we have several full lengths by artists featured in the mix. The samples on Pole Foder sound great (do I hear the aforementioned Oni singing on Faith In Me?), but I am disappointed by missing tracks. The disappointment quickly fades as I start listening to Tripswitch, I have found my white rabbit.

Circuit Breaker by Tripswitch is exactly what I was looking for in this journey. So much more subtle than the other fantastic albums I have discovered, it lies somewhere between Tim Hecker (well maybe not quite that subtle) and Juno Reactor. Ethereal voices and drones splash against breakbeats, springy synths and plucked guitars. It almost seems strands of folk or the countryside work their way in through the tunes at times. Despite one throw away track featuring the cliche movie sample (from K-PAX I believe), this is certainly going to become a fast favorite in my current rotation.

While not everyone loves electronic music like I do, I am sure we can all relate to this kind of experience finding something we treasure in a fantastically roundabout way. It almost makes the end result that much better.

Here’s to finding your white rabbit..