Photek - Modus Operandi reissue

Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu snuck into the UK top 40 at a time when I used to tape anything that sounded remotely interesting from it. Remember playing it on repeat for months afterwards before finally tracking down the single. My intro to dnb and, sadly, it's never really been topped. Almost everything else I've heard since has sounded so simplistic. Other than the IDM lads, I suppose.

This is my go to driving record/disc whatever... put this in and focus on getting somewhere quick, great for highway driving.  Minotaur is the stand out for me.

  On 1/1/2024 at 10:57 PM, purlieu said:

Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu snuck into the UK top 40 at a time when I used to tape anything that sounded remotely interesting from it. Remember playing it on repeat for months afterwards before finally tracking down the single. My intro to dnb and, sadly, it's never really been topped. Almost everything else I've heard since has sounded so simplistic. Other than the IDM lads, I suppose.

It's such a unique track. Nothing else really sounds like it outside of Photek's work. As much as I love MO, it always bothered me that this wasn't on it, especially since The Fifth Column is. Would've been lovely to see it as a bonus track for the vinyl reissue or as a separate 12" reissue. Seriously, nothing else like it, which is saying something because there really isn't anything else like MO.

Quite note, I just noticed my semi-ancient rip of MO I have on my phone (I copy most of my music to my phone rather than use streaming services. Yes, I'm nuts.) has Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu at the end. Don't know if that was from the Japanese CD or if I just added it.

  On 1/2/2024 at 11:39 AM, Dave3 said:

Quite note, I just noticed my semi-ancient rip of MO I have on my phone (I copy most of my music to my phone rather than use streaming services. Yes, I'm nuts.) has Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu at the end. Don't know if that was from the Japanese CD or if I just added it.

I have MO with Ni-Ten added on at the end on my player in Flac

This is all great discussion and there are no wrong answers when it comes to standout tracks on such a classic, but it's all about KJZ for me. So many memories of grooving to this one late at night driving. 

  On 1/2/2024 at 11:39 AM, Dave3 said:

  On 1/2/2024 at 11:39 AM, Dave3 said:

It's such a unique track.

The Third Sequence is another!

It sounds ridiculous, but I remember being a bit disappointed with this when it came out. I guess mainly because almost everything he released in the lead up to it was so good, and there was a certain sterility to the overall sound on the album. I dont think anything on it would come near my Photek top 10.
 

Not really a fan of the album either. When it came out and now. Always found DnB a bit dull compared to Warp and other abstract styles of electronic music. And some of my mates were huge into DnB so I heard plenty of it. First grumpy thread of 2024

  On 1/2/2024 at 11:39 AM, Dave3 said:

Quite note, I just noticed my semi-ancient rip of MO I have on my phone (I copy most of my music to my phone rather than use streaming services. Yes, I'm nuts.) has Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu at the end. Don't know if that was from the Japanese CD or if I just added it.

I went through a period of trying to downsize my CD collection, so I have the Japanese version with it on the end just so I could half the space the album and single took up, hah.

Not being on the album means it's not on Spotify, which seems daft given that it's probably his best known track. Neither is this wonderful b-side:

I stumbled across the MO single a few months after getting Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu and was really surprised at how different it was. I eventually picked up the album for, I think, £17.99, which was a fucking fortune for a 13 year old at the time. 

  On 1/2/2024 at 6:11 PM, Friendly Stranger said:

This is all great discussion and there are no wrong answers when it comes to standout tracks on such a classic, but it's all about KJZ for me. So many memories of grooving to this one late at night driving. 

Oh and yeah, absolutely. My favourite Photek track. Shafts of sunlight reflecting off puddles in a disused warehouse always come to mind when I hear it.

  On 1/2/2024 at 7:51 PM, beerwolf said:

Always found DnB a bit dull compared to Warp and other abstract styles of electronic music

As much as I love old dnb Photek, I have to agree with your comment. Warp artists just have that little extra magic about them.

  On 1/2/2024 at 8:37 PM, purlieu said:

Not being on the album means it's not on Spotify, which seems daft given that it's probably his best known track. Neither is this wonderful b-side:

Ah Yendi. Great track!

Just finished listening to the vinyl (again!)

What an album!! 

This thread inspired me to dust off the vinyl and give it a spin at an appropriate volume. Still sounds pretty sharp!

Never really clocked it previously but 'axiom' is a proper banger.

Folks should give 'the fifth column' more of a chance too. I always thought it was a bit of a dull track to finish the album but listening again there's a lot of interesting stuff going on. Minimalist d&b done really well.

  On 1/3/2024 at 8:02 PM, danshoebridge said:

Folks should give 'the fifth column' more of a chance too. Minimalist d&b done really well.

I'm not making this up, when I listened to it earlier, I more or less thought the same!!

Found this playlist on my MP3 player from a while ago. I've played it through a few times. Love it!

The Hidden Camera

Smoke Rings

Minotaur

Aleph 1

124

Axiom

Trans 7

Modus Operandi

Yendi

K.J.Z

Hybrid

The Fifth Column

Ni-Ten-Ichi-Ryu

The Seven Samurai

Resolution (Photek Remix)

One Nation

Knitevision

Santiago

Rings Around Saturn

The Water Margin

UFO

The Third Sequence

Titan

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/photek-modus-operandi/

Always enjoy Pitchfork's Sunday reviews, they're generally packed with background and historical info and written from someone passionate about the album. Good stuff there, nice to see the nod to Burial, whose earlier material is probably the closest I can think that comes to this album. Interesting that Trans 7 was mastered from a dubplate and so the vinyl crackle is all genuine, too, love little trivia like that.

Yeah, me too