J.Geffen’s Review of Daedelus: The Axe Murderation LP
Joe Geffen is a friend of mine and local DJ currently living in the Los Angeles area. He performs weekly on Faderwave.net at Midnight - 1:30AM every Sunday and writes regularly for both djforums.com and redplasticup.com. Here is Joe’s review of Daedelus’ “The Axe Murderation LP.”
/ —> The Daedelus Redox <—
 Joe |
I want to preface this review with a bit of an explanation. I really really enjoy the work of Daedelus; his work continues to defy the fringes of what most people consider music. That is, in fact, the quality about his work that I enjoy the most. You really have to open up one of his albums expecting a jolt to your musical tastes. And so, you can imagine my surprise to walk into a small Los Angeles “Club” on a lonely Tuesday night, to walk past a small table on which was placed all of the releases of this artist. This stopped me dead in my tracks; IDM being sold in a LA club?? And so I looked up to see what kind of person would sell this stuff in a location as juxtaposed as this only to see a very polite-looking man of his 20s smiling at me, dressed fancily in a rust-colored, winged tux jacket, complete with matching tie.
“Wait,” I said. “Daedelus is playing tonight?” “Oh, I’m Daedelus, and yes, I’m playing tonight”, he says, and - suddenly - I start to encounter the gripping emotions of being star-struck. Situations like this - where one’s expectations keep getting defeated - lie at the very heart of this artist’s work. At first listen to Daedelus, many mainstream listeners hear nothing but metallic clamour - rightfully so, I might add, as that is essentially the bulk of the sound. But, whereas with other artists those words constitute a “death blow” with which I mean to send potential listeners away, the right people will know that this is, in this case, a major compliment. Because, out of the sounds of seemingly simple computer-gibberish, you’ll start to notice cohesion in the chaos. Behold, this is the artistry of a visionary. So, without much more introduction, this is the Redox of Daedelus, starting with some of his most abstract to his most crowd appealing. —> The Axe Murderation LP <— I got this particular release from Daedelus himself, and upon choosing it from the selection of discs layed out before me, he simply said, “Yeh, that one’s experimental.” And after saying that I can handle it and I’m into hearing new techniques in music production, he looked at me strangely and said that, no, seriously, it’s really experimental. I just dismissed the claim and didn’t think anything of it until I put the record on my turntable, and DAMN! In terms of pushing the limits of music, this MUST be the cutting edge. I feel like, for the most part, if computers could synthesize music themselves, this would be the result. And while several songs on here, are cacauphnous, there still exist several gems. Please note, before listening to these tracks, be sure you have areally good speaker system that can handle a lot of bass. Here are a few to check out: Phthalocyanine: shape axed from the backdrop of shape. Primarily a remix of rhythm and bass, expect to find the remnants of chopped breakbeats superimposed over a very eerie track. This is Aphex Twin on LSD… well, more LSD for that matter… Venetian Snares: girl/boy as performed by selkirk retard orchestra for the daughters of asexual lithium addicts. The title says it all. Personally, I would say it was performed by the children of Rubber Johnny. Check it out. Eight Frozen Modules: Cutes like an axe. This is one of the aforementioned tracks where you need a pretty good subwoofer to resolve the bass tones. The discordancy of the synthesizers in this track and effective use of a mixer’s pan functions really come together to make a cool track…. actually, does that make any sense? <— Live at the Low End Theory —> His newest album (released earlier this year [2008]) commemorates his performance at, you guessed it, the Low End Theory in L.A., and is possibly the best example of how IDM can be worked into the club scene. As with most of his other danceable tracks, these tracks are infested with 1/16 notes and so much energy that it makes my head want to explode. There are no particular tracks that really stick out in my mind because the overall performance was simply incredible. I can only imagine what it must have been like in the club with lots of subs pumping bass everywhere. A crowd pleaser and a must listen, for sure! <—Exquisite Corpse —> Published back in 2005, this was my introduction to Daedelus and is the probably the best way to delve into this guy’s work. Within the first few tracks, you get a really good idea of how this guy successfully transcends traditional music structure by overlaying multiple different time structues over each other. While you might at one point be listening to your usual 4×4 beat, other layers will be in 3×4. Be sure to listen to the track Impending Doom; it’s hip-hop over a beat that’s been cut-up into more pieces than the personality of Britney Spears. Following that is Just Briefly, which is an excellent conglomeration of a swinging, glitchy beat that has, once again, been fragmented. In typical Daedelus fashion, however, it comes together into a very quirky danceable track. Lastly, be sure to check out the collaborative track with Prefuse 73,Welcome Home. |
