FACT's Essential Pritchard

No Africa Hitech :(

http://www.factmag.com/2013/10/20/the-essential-mark-pritchard/

Mark's got a new album coming out: FACT releases essential list.

FACT releases essential Aphex list... Where is new album?

Regars stephen

Maybe I missed something but what Mark Pritchard releases are notable from back in the day? Am I right in assuming that since he's been around so long that his music has been 'grandfathered in' to be appreciated by music fans or is there something about his music I'm missing that makes it special? Africa Hitech and Harmonic 33 were ridiculously underwhelming for me personally. I think Harmonic 33's debut CD on warp was the last new shrink wrapped CD i bought blind, and made a vow after that to never buy a CD blind again based on it's enticing marketing

  On 10/24/2013 at 12:57 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

Maybe I missed something but what Mark Pritchard releases are notable from back in the day? Am I right in assuming that since he's been around so long that his music has been 'grandfathered in' to be appreciated by music fans or is there something about his music I'm missing that makes it special? Africa Hitech and Harmonic 33 were ridiculously underwhelming for me personally. I think Harmonic 33's debut CD on warp was the last new shrink wrapped CD i bought blind, and made a vow after that to never buy a CD blind again based on it's enticing marketing

That's it in a nutshell.

  On 10/24/2013 at 12:57 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

Maybe I missed something but what Mark Pritchard releases are notable from back in the day? Am I right in assuming that since he's been around so long that his music has been 'grandfathered in' to be appreciated by music fans or is there something about his music I'm missing that makes it special? Africa Hitech and Harmonic 33 were ridiculously underwhelming for me personally. I think Harmonic 33's debut CD on warp was the last new shrink wrapped CD i bought blind, and made a vow after that to never buy a CD blind again based on it's enticing marketing

See: Global Communication.

  On 10/24/2013 at 1:03 AM, StephenG said:

 

  On 10/24/2013 at 12:57 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

Maybe I missed something but what Mark Pritchard releases are notable from back in the day? Am I right in assuming that since he's been around so long that his music has been 'grandfathered in' to be appreciated by music fans or is there something about his music I'm missing that makes it special? Africa Hitech and Harmonic 33 were ridiculously underwhelming for me personally. I think Harmonic 33's debut CD on warp was the last new shrink wrapped CD i bought blind, and made a vow after that to never buy a CD blind again based on it's enticing marketing

 

That's it in a nutshell.

 

Harmonic 33 or Harmonic 313? I never got into the former, sounded like run-of-the-mill Ninja Tune beats. I found Harmonic 313 and Africa Hitech had far more replay value than I expected, slow growers for sure. Mark's work with both of those projects was oddly refreshing because it was a veteran producer exploring bass music and dubstep, they always sounded well mixed and produced to me. He's a far, FAR more interesting as a solo artist than Tom Middleton imo, and after all both of their reputations stem from their work as Global Communication, Jedi Knights, and Reload.

I actually think this list is quite impressive. I think they excluded Africa Hitech because that one actually got a lot of acclaim, which was deserved and something of a long overdue recognition from a broader audience of listeners. I really can't easily think of someone else so versatile (though Luke Vibert comes to mind) and still maintain such a high quality in each alias and release. It's the complete opposite of say, a producer like Wolfgang Voigt who has literally dozens of monikers for slightly different sounding 4/4 techno 12" records he put out. I think it's perfectly appropriate for him to be promoted, even if it is WARP PR - he's not a fad-hopping opportunist but rather a producer who has sincerely contributed to a number of genres and trends over two decades.

It'll be interesting to see how the new LP turns out though. I hear something of a Machinedrum-esque footwork sound to it, perhaps WARP is optimistic he'll be their answer to the far more club and dance oriented music coming from Ninja Tune and other labels. I mean, Autechre, OPN and BoC are nowhere close to filling that niche. I find his 12" and EP releases stronger - he tends to get a bit too lengthy sometimes with his ideas both in individual tracks and in the content of his full albums. Or in the case of the Harmonic 313 LP, the album was too devoid of new tracks - beyond "Quadrant 3" the strong tracks from that album had already come out on the EP.

No Chaos and Julia Set or Chameleon. Glaring omissions in my book.

*drinks*

  On 10/23/2013 at 8:29 PM, chassis said:

No Africa Hitech :(

big fail.

  On 10/24/2013 at 6:45 AM, joshuatx said:

Harmonic 33 or Harmonic 313? I never got into the former, sounded like run-of-the-mill Ninja Tune beats. I found Harmonic 313 and Africa Hitech had far more replay value than I expected, slow growers for sure. Mark's work with both of those projects was oddly refreshing because it was a veteran producer exploring bass music and dubstep, they always sounded well mixed and produced to me. He's a far, FAR more interesting as a solo artist than Tom Middleton imo, and after all both of their reputations stem from their work as Global Communication, Jedi Knights, and Reload.

 

I actually think this list is quite impressive. I think they excluded Africa Hitech because that one actually got a lot of acclaim, which was deserved and something of a long overdue recognition from a broader audience of listeners. I really can't easily think of someone else so versatile (though Luke Vibert comes to mind) and still maintain such a high quality in each alias and release. It's the complete opposite of say, a producer like Wolfgang Voigt who has literally dozens of monikers for slightly different sounding 4/4 techno 12" records he put out. I think it's perfectly appropriate for him to be promoted, even if it is WARP PR - he's not a fad-hopping opportunist but rather a producer who has sincerely contributed to a number of genres and trends over two decades.

 

It'll be interesting to see how the new LP turns out though. I hear something of a Machinedrum-esque footwork sound to it, perhaps WARP is optimistic he'll be their answer to the far more club and dance oriented music coming from Ninja Tune and other labels. I mean, Autechre, OPN and BoC are nowhere close to filling that niche. I find his 12" and EP releases stronger - he tends to get a bit too lengthy sometimes with his ideas both in individual tracks and in the content of his full albums. Or in the case of the Harmonic 313 LP, the album was too devoid of new tracks - beyond "Quadrant 3" the strong tracks from that album had already come out on the EP.

 

what I like about Mark - and what I got a better understanding of after seeing/reading his interviews - is that he'll do whatever the fuck he wants to do. he's been in the game a long time and he still has that curiosity about exploring territory he's never ventured into before. I admire that. there'll always be fans of his who won't like some of his releases and will scratch their heads and think "wtf is he doing" but I appreciate that willingness to explore, regardless of any supposed inconsistency in quality.

I should point out though that I'm a newer fan and I've still not heard much of the older stuff with Tom Middleton. I've heard the Jedi Knights album, and I've heard bits and pieces of Global Communication, but that's about it. anyway, Harmonic 313 WMEHI was fresh as fuck to my ears, I played the hell out of it. also one of the Harmonic 33 records - Extraordinary People - is a lot better than the other one imo.

  On 10/25/2013 at 5:02 AM, usagi said:

 

what I like about Mark - and what I got a better understanding of after seeing/reading his interviews - is that he'll do whatever the fuck he wants to do. he's been in the game a long time and he still has that curiosity about exploring territory he's never ventured into before. I admire that. there'll always be fans of his who won't like some of his releases and will scratch their heads and think "wtf is he doing" but I appreciate that willingness to explore, regardless of any supposed inconsistency in quality.

 

 

Yes. This I agree with and completely respect.

Personally, I don't think he has ever reached anywhere near the level of extreme exploration that our favorite artists (Autechre, Squarepusher, Afx, etc etc etc) have reached and quite frankly I don't think he has nearly the abilities to reach these levels. That being said, I respect what he's doing and how, like you've said, "he'll do whatever the fuck he wants to do"...

I've liked the last three vinyls from Mark because they take me back to my earliest years of electronic music. Big cheesy and repetitive (but fat, and well made) synths with raggamen and amen breaks; it's called jungle.,,, But with higher production quality. I really hope he has inspired a trend.... Soundboy Fuck Off, 1234, and Manabadman are a brilliant fusion of old school jungle vibes that take me back to the MC Conrad, DJ Krust, Roni Size, and AK1200 days.

I really respect this ability to provide a nostalgic feeling to his audience while touching on new trends such as dub, footwork, etc. Maybe he doesn't represent the best of experimental music.. but for me, he's taking me back to a special time.

sg

needs more of this

[youtubehd]AmHiuHmiaSM[/youtubehd]

  On 10/25/2013 at 5:02 AM, usagi said:

 

I should point out though that I'm a newer fan and I've still not heard much of the older stuff with Tom Middleton. I've heard the Jedi Knights album, and I've heard bits and pieces of Global Communication, but that's about it. anyway, Harmonic 313 WMEHI was fresh as fuck to my ears, I played the hell out of it. also one of the Harmonic 33 records - Extraordinary People - is a lot better than the other one imo.

To be fair Harmonic 33 is pretty solid, I suppose I really got burnt out on that sound (I was a huge Ninja Tune fanboy and big into that style downtempo instrumental hip-hop) so I never gave it a fair chance. I'll check out Extraordinary People, besides youtube views I have only given the other one (Music for Film blah blah) a full listen.

As for Tom Middleton, he's a great producer but to me his solo material is just way too chill and tame for me. Like, I was really stoked to hear Lifetracks but felt like nodding off halfway through. Don't get me wrong, just not my thing, if you like deep house he's pretty damn consistent. I've liked some of his more recent remixes too. They made an excellent duo - I've been under the impression Mark came from a DJ background whereas Tom was a trained cellist when he was young, so they seemingly brought in their strengths when they collaborated. Middleton was also key to RDJ's early career but we all know that.

  On 10/25/2013 at 4:30 PM, joshuatx said:

They made an excellent duo - I've been under the impression Mark came from a DJ background whereas Tom was a trained cellist when he was young, so they seemingly brought in their strengths when they collaborated. Middleton was also key to RDJ's early career but we all know that.

I'd been meaning to chime in with that, not that either's solo output is particularly bad, but

A_{(Mark + Tom)} >> A_(Mark) + A_(Tom)

where A is for awesomeness. The GC podcast they did a couple of years ago (no. 278) is pretty great and worth tracking down if not already heard, a real tight mega-mix of stuff from almost all their aliases.

  On 10/24/2013 at 6:45 AM, joshuatx said:

Or in the case of the Harmonic 313 LP, the album was too devoid of new tracks - beyond "Quadrant 3" the strong tracks from that album had already come out on the EP.

 

the EPs were good, but i think the album was the clincher. Quadrant 3 as you rightly say, but also Koeln and Cyclotron especially. also note that Dirtbox, Call to Arms and Word Problems were only on the CD version of the album, i guess in part because the EPs were digital/vinyl only.

  On 10/25/2013 at 5:02 AM, usagi said:

also one of the Harmonic 33 records - Extraordinary People - is a lot better than the other one imo.

i really like Extraordinary People, but i think i prefer Music For Film... Planet 54 is among my favourite songs he's done. beautiful.

also, anyone not familiar with ?, a song he released on a 10" a few years ago, needs to familiarise his or herself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q8k8qgo60w

I made a few mixes awhile back that compile almost the entirety of Mark and Tom's collaborative (and a few solo) efforts and their Remixes.

(lots of obscurities/rarities to be found as well)

http://percussionlab.com/users/hayhook

all avail there for streaming and/or DL

That list on FACT should also have included this:

http://www.discogs.com/Returner-The-The-Return-Of-The-Returner/release/222049

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xvcr8sCtlQ

  On 10/24/2013 at 12:57 AM, John Ehrlichman said:

Maybe I missed something but what Mark Pritchard releases are notable from back in the day? Am I right in assuming that since he's been around so long that his music has been 'grandfathered in' to be appreciated by music fans or is there something about his music I'm missing that makes it special? Africa Hitech and Harmonic 33 were ridiculously underwhelming for me personally. I think Harmonic 33's debut CD on warp was the last new shrink wrapped CD i bought blind, and made a vow after that to never buy a CD blind again based on it's enticing marketing

Pretty much most of the work w/ Tom Middleton is essential staple stuff. The Global Communication and Reload projects are pretty untouchable. That's all truly special. I never did really get into the Jedi Knights, but it's really influential to the funk resurgence of that time including Daft Punk. They're remix work was massive, especially Tom after the split.

Reload was originally a Mark only project and the first Reload EP is just him. That FACT mag is so right about the Pulusha record. What gem that is. That's Mark and Kristy Hawkshaw. One super cool one that didn't make the list is his dumb 'n' bass work w/ his buddy Dom Fripp as Chaos and Julia Set. I think there's like 3 or 4 12" under that name. Evolution Records (which should have been called "Galaxy Records" after the Carl Craig track as BFC - but the track labeling was pretty bad on those 12"s so they got it mixed up) in general is awesome, especially in the beginning.

The last Reload record (and if all his talk about a new Reload album hasn't all been lies, it won't be the very last) - Archives is absolutely amazing. Not sure if Tom had anything to do w/ it. I don't want to talk about it too highly because it's one of those ones that subtly sneaks up on you slowly to reveal how great it is.

Since that time there have been a number of interesting an not so interesting things. There's all that stuff on Droppin' Science - Use of Weapons, Vertigo, that sort of thing, mostly Dave Brinkworth collabs who we now know as Harmonic 33. I found the first Harmonic 33 records pretty bad and if I remember right sounded something like a bit of hip hop, then came that album for Warp which was completely different and in the library music style. I love love love the first track Optigan from that album (not made w/ a real Optigan), but the rest was ok. Around the same time he's doing his Troubleman solo project which i thought was by far the best of his newer stuff at the time. That project was all over the map in terms of style but the Latin vibe was most memorable. After that Mark goes solo w/ Harmonic 313. This is about the time i begin to completely lose interest. I did get the ?/The Hologram 10" EP he did just under his name because it was just some weird one off thing, but I couldn't tell you much after that. If he's talking about doing an ambient album again I'd certainly look into it, but this whole second Reload album tease is really leaving me w/ a bad taste in my mouth. I'm sure plenty of people of the new generation love his newest stuff. I just doesn't happen to be my thing.

Thanks for the rundown SPD, I knew you were a Middleton expert/fan so I was anticipating your input in the thread. I hadn't listened to Troubleman at all, great stuff. While I disagree, I can completely understand why you've lost interest in his more recent output when compared to his previous work.

  On 10/26/2013 at 12:38 AM, Ron Manager said:

 

  On 10/25/2013 at 5:02 AM, usagi said:

also one of the Harmonic 33 records - Extraordinary People - is a lot better than the other one imo.

 

i really like Extraordinary People, but i think i prefer Music For Film... Planet 54 is among my favourite songs he's done. beautiful.

 

also, anyone not familiar with ?, a song he released on a 10" a few years ago, needs to familiarise his or herself:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q8k8qgo60w

 

Both of those are quite lovely, wonderful ambient pieces.

Hayhook and SPD are 100% right. here's part 1 of Mark's FACT Mix:

http://www.factmag.com/2013/10/28/fact-mix-406-mark-pritchard-part-1/

http://www.factmag.com/2013/10/29/fact-mix-406-mark-pritchard-part-2/