Somatic Responses - Adverts

I was deeply saddened the other day, when I reached for my copy of Somatic Responses "Adverts" and opened the jewel case to find not one, but both CDs (Adverts is a double CD) fused (glued almost!) to the liner notes. It seems I spilled a glass of water on my dresser and forgot to rescue the CD case in the process... and the water somehow caused the CD and liner note to glue to each other. Whimpering in pain, I slowly tore the liner notes from the CDs, watching my beautiful notes tear and crumble. So, now I have liner notes with holes in them and two CDs with bits of paper stuck to them. Thank god the CDs are still okay and play. But R.I.P. liner notes.I take pride in my CDs and generally look after them very well. I like actually owning the "real" versions for artwork and liner notes, and to support the artists! Duh. To have done this to one of my favourite CDs of this year... well, poo on me! However, grieve I must not, for the music is still in tact, and that is what is most important.So, the music? Well, kick me in the ass... IT ROCKS. *insert valley girl voice* LIKE SOOOO MUCH. *end valley girl voice* I've been trying to choose a track to feature on an internet radio show I'm doing, and I've become seriously indecisive. I like so many tracks (not that I hate any tracks, I just have so many favourites); it's hard to choose. Each disc offers a mix of dance tracks and more ambient pieces, to combine together for a beautiful listen. With the recent trend of double disc releases, with some releases perhaps not warranting two discs (yes, this means that some releases could have just been one disc and saved everyone a lot of trouble of having to hear all the filler songs put on!), here we find music that deserves each disc and makes no compromises.

I've always been a fan of the work done by John and Paul Healey (the brothers that make up Somatic Responses), and highly anticipated this album. I recall some of the last few Somatic albums to be mellower than "Adverts"; it seems they have brought some of the beats and 'groove' back with this release. With their unique combination of noise, dislocated breakbeats, IDM, and ambient, some of their best work is displayed here. For those looking for something more intelligent than straight ahead rhythmic noise, and a bit more varied, this is a band to check out.

-- March 2004

 

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