SIM_01 quotes a legal case, Emmerson v. Davies, which ultimately states that nothing in science or art is original. He then goes on to borrow from just about everyone working in electronica today, as well as sampling from a variety of movies, TV shows, news reels and other media to make techno acid tracks (some are more like trip-hop) that are tighter than your fishnet stockings (Non-transvestite male readers may fill in an appropriately close-fitting alternate garment. -- Ed.). Every song has a melody, a rhythm and is danceable... Some more than others, admittedly, but each of the eight tracks on Radiophonic Oddity will get the people up on their feet.
Honestly, the opening song, "Twilight", is disturbing as hell; a sample from The Twilight Zone -- actor Earl Holliman screaming "Somebody help me, please somebody help me" -- does not make for easy listening. However, according to his website, SIM_01 intended for it to represent fear, and he definitely succeeds. All of the tracks create specific ambience: fear, peace, happiness -- your basic gamut of emotions. SIM-01 sources some incredible sounds; a funky Japanese-sounding flute overlays a loop of a woman singing "Hey", drumbeats a la the Chemical Brothers, hard-rocking guitars, and some funky Keoki-style synth sounds mix to create "Gristle". It's an amazingly happy sound; it's trippier than your average acid mix -- frankly, it's rare to find so much insouciance in techno anymore -- and recalls the early '90s, when everyone ran around with lollies in their mouths (in some ways a loss to be regretted).
SIM_01 is definitely reaching for the pop market with his mixes; "Mentor" says it all. "Mentor" features Vera Hall's "Oh, Lordy now" vocal from "Trouble So Hard" which Moby so famously recycled in "Natural Blues". No fool for art he, you get the feeling that SIM_01 wants to bring electronica back to its populist roots and to expand the borders of the genre at the same time. That sounds ambitious as hell, and it may be his LA roots, but he recalls Vegas-era Crystal Method in his push for the party and to hell with sophisticated, arty stuff. He remembers the roots of electronica: dance. Because he seems so frankly passionate about the music, he pulls it off.
Although these songs stick to fairly fast and fairly consistent tempos, the flow is not perfect and there is a definite two-beat break between most songs. It doesn't really matter, and maybe that's a production problem anyway. There are only eight songs here, but every one is a keeper.
I haven't heard of SIM_01 spinning out here on the East Coast and I figure that's my loss. If you're too far away from LA to groove all day to his precocious rhythms, get Radiophonic Oddity. It'd be an oddity if it hit radio, all right, because it's so original.
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