ART CD 2 - The Philosophy of Sound and Machine

"A selection of Electronic Music.... for Dance and Thought"

Well this was the "first" Rephlex CD, released in 1992, in cooperation with the ART label that was run by Kirk DeGiorgio (still is I think) An excellent start for Rephlex, which I think had only released Bradley's Beat before this. Hence why it was "shared" with ART.

This is an exemplary compilation of the "British Techno Sound" that Rephlex would showcase for the first third of it's life. The sound we all associate with IDM. Aphex, B12, Black Dog/Plaid show up big here. All good tracks, although the Red Cell track is really excellent. B12 are so so underrated imo. The Aphex tracks are more humorous and lighthearted than the remaining comp, which is quite "spacey" and contemplative. The Soit P.P. track is the ageispolis beat obviously. I'm actually interested if this CD came out before SAW 85-92. 

The album certainly gives Artificial Intelligence I a run for its money, although the horrendous album art (a holdover from the detroit era) is hokey and misleading. Warp did a better job in that respect. Other weak points for me are the Derrick May remix, and the Mike Dred track, which needs about 2 min cut from its run time, but I'll be getting into that when we go through freaquenseize....

Most of these tracks appear on other releases, on 12"s from that era or on various other comps later on in the decade and into the aughts. I believe this is the first appearance of Blue Calx, a full 2 years before it shows up on SAW II. I've of course listened to it 190809320943 times and it's seared into my brain, but I could easily imagine thinking this CD is worth it for that track alone. What a feeling that must have been in '92!! 

I give this a 4/5. It's retro now, a time warp, but in a great way.

Up next... Synectics - The Purple Universe. stay tuned.

I'm lucky enough to have found a very gently used copy in Chicago for about $40 five or so years ago, but from looking at discogs it looks fairly rare. It's probably only inflated in price because of the "exclusive" aphex tracks, which aren't the best music on here imo. I hope people interested in this album can listen to it easily on youtube.

It's funny you're posting a review like this - it dovetails nicely into something I'm planning with the new forum software capabilities...

Great little review/blurb too!

kinda mentioned this last night in the phex sub phorum. I could never get a copy and i knew about it from a 93 future music interview. had dreams about these tracks for years, glad i get to hear them now, love the Soit PP thing.

managed to get physicals of everything else on the list apart from j4 and j5 which i just had casette-vintyl rips of. was still fairly happy with that as a kid though. 

Yup, I've also thought this as a Rephlex take on AI series. Even pretty much same artists featured. Maybe the most rare and high priced item in my "collection". Paid something like 90$ ten years ago. The prices went generally to 150 $, don't know how much it goes for now. The two RDJ tracks are OK, nothing spectacular though. But that Mike Dred track....bad. So cheesy that listening to it makes some serious damage to my cholesterol levels. On the other front, I really dug Small Energies. Was one of the highlights for me:

I nabbed a copy of the CD in Knoxville Tennessee for $7.99 and was so broke at the time, eventually had to flip it on eBay.

i have never heard this, and will now listen to it. thanks for this initiative @dr lopez

  On 10/9/2019 at 6:25 PM, Uros said:

Yup, I've also thought this as a Rephlex take on AI series. Even pretty much same artists featured. Maybe the most rare and high priced item in my "collection". Paid something like 90$ ten years ago. The prices went generally to 150 $, don't know how much it goes for now. The two RDJ tracks are OK, nothing spectacular though. But that Mike Dred track....bad. So cheesy that listening to it makes some serious damage to my cholesterol levels. On the other front, I really dug Small Energies. Was one of the highlights for me:

 

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Lush track. I love most the Balil stuff. Parasight is also up there with the best of that era in my book.

  On 10/9/2019 at 6:25 PM, Uros said:

Yup, I've also thought this as a Rephlex take on AI series. Even pretty much same artists featured. Maybe the most rare and high priced item in my "collection". Paid something like 90$ ten years ago. The prices went generally to 150 $, don't know how much it goes for now. The two RDJ tracks are OK, nothing spectacular though. But that Mike Dred track....bad. So cheesy that listening to it makes some serious damage to my cholesterol levels. On the other front, I really dug Small Energies. Was one of the highlights for me:

 

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YES. Balil is always a safe bet. 3/4 heart from Bytes is such a fuckin choon!

About the album art, the design of the cd itself is brilliant though. Some Escher-esque shit going on with some skyscrapers. Could be Detroit buildings. Not sure.

About the comp: the black dog / balil tracks are def my favs.

As a comp I prefer the later Objets d'Art on New Electronica though.

Artemis. 

  On 10/9/2019 at 8:48 PM, goDel said:

About the album art, the design of the cd itself is brilliant though. Some Escher-esque shit going on with some skyscrapers. Could be Detroit buildings. Not sure.

The design is very similar to the cover of the R&S version of the ART 1 EP - the design is by Third Earth in Detroit.

There are actually three different versions of the ART 1 EP, each one released by a different label: there's the A.R.T. version, the R&S version and the Planet E version, and each has a different set of tracks. I suppose the R&S version was an exchange with A.R.T. to release Future/Past's Hyperspace on R&S, and the Planet E version was in exchange for the Psyche/BFC EP on A.R.T. - but I digress.

Neuro Politique's (sic) Artemis is a curious one, because most of Matt Cogger's output is on Irdial Discs and New Electronica; it's a Derrick May remix, though, but it's still the odd one of the tracks. The cross-pollination between labels is strong with this one, the Red Cell (sic) and Cmetric tracks are B12, also released on Electro-Soma a year later on Warp as part of the Artificial Intelligence series. This compilation is a stepping stone for A.R.T., B12, RePHLeX, New Electronica, Warp, Planet E, R&S... it's definitely one of my foundational electronic music releases.

7/5.

yeah. the R&S version is the one ive got