Re: If ya liked them records....

[James Reynolds <tritone@dsp.com>]

>I also snatched up a couple of other loop-based electronic albums --
>Tricky's _Pre-Millenium Tension_ and Underworld's _Second Toughest In The
>Infants_.  

you really should check out the two precursors to these albums, tricky's
"maxinquaye" and underworld's "dubnobasswithmyheadman".  they two albums 
you
mentioned are good, but a little spotty at times.  the two older albums 
seem
much more consistent to me.  they aren't "plodding" - they DO something,
although in a gradual way.  the textures are dark and deep, mellow with
solid grooves and metamorphosing textures and unrecognizable samples (is
that a javanese gamelan i hear?).

might as well add a few more recommendations, as long as i have someone's
attention.  i'm really into dark, strange, minimal, abstract music based on
slowed-down hiphop beats.  some favorites:

scorn: ambient dub with messed up hiphop beats - some odd times and accents
in weird places.  great dark textures which gradually change over time.
check out the album "gyral" or the meat beat manifesto remix of "silver 
rain
fell".

meat beat manifesto: the new double album is a departure from the older
stuff - even more abstract, stranger, darker.  great loops and grooves,
freaky sounds.

portishead: some might consider this too commercial, but hey let's face it,
the album "dummy" is incredible.  haunted-house-film-noir-hip-hop kind of
stuff.  includes samples and live instruments.  (they played most drum 
parts
themselves, printed them onto vinyl, then sampled and processed them to get
the authentic sound.  works!)

skylab: the tracks "seashell" and "river of bass" from the album "#1" are
just about perfect.  sparse beats and and freakish synth and sample 
textures.

red snapper: a quartet consisting of drums, acoustic bass, guitar, and
sax/accordion/flute.  i know what you're thinking... but the way they
process and treat their instruments turns the music into a twisted, 
textural
groovescape!  sparse accordion notes swelling in under heavy reverb, bass
lines run thru tremolo and looped backwards... strange etherial guitar 
noises...

tasty stuff.

james