theatre ov idiots
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8/13/2008 3:01:23 AM
review by Karl Mohr [pt.3]
For those who like their techno infused with delirious serum and shrouded in dark clouds, crank up "We Will Listen", imbibe with your intoxicant of choice and ignite your trusty blacklights.
Standout tracks: the super-funky bassline of "Mind" will keep the warm-
blooded bobbing. The valvoline throb of "Equality" is worthy of a good drive down
the Trance-Canada highway at excessive speed; dig the shrieking synths and pounding cogs of threatening railway comets. "Light" is a really excellent electronic trance track - they've really outdone themselves here. For fans of Download and related, the immortal and distorted "High" keeps the saturations in the incantations. "Epiphany" is a lovely voyage into a mystical ambient land of vocoder samples and more delicious binaural candy.
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theatre ov idiots
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8/13/2008 3:00:34 AM
review by Karl Mohr [pt.2]
For decades, techno tracks have anchored their thematic essence around a singular really-damn-good vocal sample. Without the vocal sample, the track disappears. From this singular point, meaning spirals forth and evolves under the narcotic influence of the musical repetitions. When this flowering happens, the musical process has proven itself. When this fails, and the synergy evaporates into a bare music track overlaid with a repetitive media clip, and the musical process is a failure. "We Will Listen" is a success due to its trance methodology and tasteful use of media sampling.
Oddly, the rhythm programming seems to take a back seat to the collective motion of the tracks. This might be an artistic decision; keeping the rhythm changes and
developments out of the foreground encourages synergies among all the various musical elements. In most of the tracks, the rhythms contort themselves into sonic textures and trance fibre rather than fat, monster transients. Again, Theatre Ov Idiots are attempting tastefulness, atmosphere and subtle manoeuvres rather than clean robo-techno. Also worth noting: some of the dark industrial histories of the band members carry over into this "dance" project, baking the mix with a menacing, throttled touch at some points.
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theatre ov idiots
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8/13/2008 2:47:15 AM
One Section this Page editor could use is a section for Reviews...
I'll post them here until I can find a better place for them.
Theatre Ov Idiots "We Will Listen"
label: interdimensional
review by Karl Mohr [pt.1]
Theatre Ov Idiots have already done enough remixing and live shows to make a good reputation for themselves; the release of their full-length, ten-track album
"We Will Listen" is eagerly awaited. Stemming from the thick dark aggro clouds of Cryptomnesia, this project is a refreshingly concise and minimalist take on the current state of techno-trance with a heavy emphasis on mixing and interweaving synth lines. Something which clearly sets this project apart from the deluge of repetition-based electronic genres is the use of binaural techniques and rigorous attention to spatialization and the stereo panorama in general - this is great music for cranking up in headphones. Some interesting use of reverb and ambient incidentals is also employed, with swarms of shopping-mall noise swimming through the multiplicity of news commentators and blissed-out night trippers. A deep understanding of the role of the "Deep Bass Voice" punctuating
a break in the pounding grooves is made obvious, with monumental deity utterances reminding us why we came to this riveting darkness in the first place.
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theatre ov idiots
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8/13/2008 2:05:47 AM
Theatre Ov Idiots
We Will Listen
Interdimensional Industries/Inter13
It's always refreshing to hear another artist taking and old formula and twisting it up into something that spans genres. "We Will Listen" is one of those fine examples. Though its genre appears on the surface to be simple electronica, subsequent listens reveal this to be an album with stern messages about the state of the world today. The music is exceptionally diverse, instantly appealing, and perfectly produced. It has just the right level of 'raw' to be different without sounding unprofessional. Excellent job.
- Poseidon, Gothic Beauty Magazine, Issue #24, USA
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