reviews are starting to come in:
Andrew Duke--Consumer vs. User (Phthalo/USA)
If industrial robots have their own blend of funky music to listen to during their
breaks on the assembly line, then "Consumer vs User" is likely to make fluids
boil in their servovalves. Glitchy and groovy are indeed two words that go
together well in the music of Andrew Duke on this release (published 2006 on
Phthalo Records), and it had been a long time I hadn't listened to something
with a feeling both as mechanical and dancy at the same time--maybe since
Cabaret Voltaire, but it was aeons ago, and in a quite different genre.
At first, this album won't sound funky or groovy at all. Raw distorted beats, some
weird sounds, and when you think that's all then you realize that all this is
deceivingly repetitive, and there is definitely something more. Andrew Duke
starts where minimal techno ends, and against this minimalist background (a
heavy bass--sometimes very heavy, like in d'n'b or dub--saturated
drumloops and sequences) something else is slowly built, through weirdly vocoded
voices, electronic noises imperceptibly coming up, lots of processed samples that
seem to be based on audio electronic interferences, and almost unnoticeable at
first hear variations. But, though this could read quite experimental, the way it is
done gives us 11 tracks that qualify as real idm since it is both intelligently done
and sometimes catchy as hell.
Well, this won't come as a real surprise for those of you who already know
Andrew Duke: an audio activist based in Halifax, Canada since nearly 20 years,
he has gained international recognition through the years both as a musician and
for his consistent investment in the worldwide development of the idm scene (see
for instance the Cognition Audioworks label he rules at
http://www.cognitionaudioworks.com/). Again he proves here with this very good
and coherent album that he deserves all the praises for what he does best:
electronic music, both as a producer and as a composer. Groove ex Machina.
(Cyrill Duneau/Igloomag/USA)
ANDREW DUKE - CONSUMER VS. USER (CD by Phthalo Records)
The career from Andrew Duke started in 1987 and has never been quiet in any
way since then: his own releases, his remixes (Aaliyah, Pink Floyd, Chicks On
Speed to mention a few) and his concerts, plus the fact that he is since 1981
writing about music. It's a vast amount of work that I must admit don't know in
every possible detail, but that I off and on follow throughout the years. Here he
has a record of rhythm based music. Important to know, since Duke sometimes
does also more experimental drone based ones. But it's rhythm here and Duke
plays not just one kind of rhythm oriented music, but from several different points
of view. Some of the pieces are quite minimal along the lines of Kompakt or
Plus8/Plastikman, but also beat stuff that involves a lot more, fucked up rhythm
pieces that we found in the past on the Phthalo label itself. I must admit that the
minimal pieces were the better ones, but perhaps the more chaotic, somewhat
disorganized beats is just not my thing, and minimalism is. Music by Andrew Duke
is always well produced, full of sound (perhaps the only thing not minimal!), and
perhaps not always full of surprises, but quality is guaranteed.
(Frans de Waard/Vital Weekly/The Netherlands)