| Tribal muttering, bass squelching and electronic whirring. This is the sound of We Saw Orion, the opening track from Fisk Industries double-dipped dosage of a compilation album. On disc one is a collection of Fisk Industries’ two ten-inch releases combined with The Isle Of Wight EP and 77 & Rising. On the other hand, disc two features rarities, tracks that appeared on various compilations and previously unreleased tracks, added to entice the "gotta collect ‘em all" fan. There are sounds from far afield, soundtracks to unmade filmic scenes of unknown artificial life colliding - I’m completely operational and all my circuits are functioning perfectly taken from "Earth Algorithm.'" This is music that describes, decenters and dreams--this must be the work of a multimedia sound designer. Now, introducing Mat Ranson the man behind the name. Put your hands together please? There are no zeitgeist defining new genres here, but it is reminiscent of that imaginative sort of music that might have started life as ambient, relabelled electronica and then boxed into experimental techno. This is the sort of sound that Warp records might put out or that Black Dog might have produced. There are no fancy glitched up sound switches here, just a downbeat swinging of beats and oozing analogue synths. The Orb would be proud. There are no obvious vocal melodies throughout the whole album, just the occasional sneaky sampled mutterings, Ranson keeping them stealthily camouflaged with music like on The Isle of Wight. The beauty here is in the beats, backed up by atmospheric synthy sounds, a formula that is reworked for most of the album’s duration. The high point of this collection of sounds is 70s Jet, with its slow build from high hat flittering to its knock down beats and electric murky water barging b-line. The rest of the album? Some tracks are more electro inspired like "The Azimuth At Zero Degrees," some are acidic slo-mo techno absorbed like Ekta, others ride the wave of a jagged breaks feel like Largo Winch. If downbeat electronica is your thing, EPs & Rarities is bound to catch your gaze as you graze. - Spacelab |
2XLP/Out Of Print