Hello friends =) I’m back with a new review, and this one’s
for the final volume in the classic Joyrex series, Joyrex J9ii.
Album: Joyrex J9ii
Artist: Caustic Window
Released: 1993
Genres: Hardcore techno, acid house
Obtained: 2 years ago, ripped off the Rephlex
website via Freecorder
PREVIEW
If only I had been there to see some of the things Richard
had done to toy with his fans’ emotions. Richard David James had been well
known back in the day to release many of his albums in a rather unusual
fashion, such as distributing the first CD pressings of Analogue Bubblebath vol. 3 sealed in nothing but bubble wrap. This
EP was no exception.
There was no cover art; but what it lacked in packaging, it
made up for with fancy gifts and prizes for the first 1000 buyers, from little
candy packets to exclusive Rephlex t-shirts. Nowadays, you’re lucky if you can
come across the regular copies that were printed afterward, which had the basic
appearance of a blank vinyl disc, besides the small label information printed
on the disc itself. This has been an ongoing trend for Rich and his colleagues,
and is perhaps a statement in favour of proper music as opposed to fancy,
deceptive packaging. In light of that, let’s get to the actual music.
This set contains some powerful tracks, the most popular
being Track A1, a.k.a. “Fantasia,” the sex-riddled mess of madness previously
released on Joyrex J9i; and Track B1, which has been known by many names and
featured on various compilations and European TV ads, including one for a certain brand of tires. The general mood here is one of
passionate noise and violent energy, which mainstream dance artists would tend
to avoid, but was not uncommon in underground raves. All 4 tracks were released
without official titles until the 1998 Joyrex Compilation.
______________________________________________________
FANTASIA
This track I
have already covered, and can be summarized in 3 words: Speed, noise, and porn.
CLAYHILL DUB
This could be considered the “soft” track on the set, being
that it consists solely of scattered reggae percussion samples and a pulsating
bass loop that carries on for about 3 minutes. Unfortunately, there is not much
else to this one.
THE GARDEN
OF LINMIRI
Before its was released on the 1998 Joyrex Compilation with the above title, this
track had been released on other compilations by names like “cat 009 iii” and
Industro Garbage Beats.” A super fast beat layered by distorted, industrial
noise, this track remains one of the heaviest tracks Rich has ever done. What’s
even more interesting is that technically, this track is 2-in-1, as the eerie
ambience that can be heard beneath the chaos is in fact a separate track taken
from the Analogue Bubblebath 3 CD.
WE ARE THE MUSIC MAKERS (HARDCORE MIX)
This is allegedly a remix of an Aphex Twin piece from the
ever-famous Selected Ambient Works 85-92.
However, instead of creating an actual
remix of the original version, Richard decided to trash everything but the
Willy Wonka sample (“We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of the
dreams”) and threw in another batch of mental distortion, so as to follow suit
with the rest of the collection, and set it to loop for 4 minutes. This did not
really compliment the original at all, but perhaps that wasn’t his goal in
making this mix either.
______________________________________________________
OVERVIEW
Few albums show the true nature of the wild experimentalist
that is Richard D. James quite the way this album does. That goes for
everything from the wacky packaging methods, to the ridiculous way the tracks
are composed (I mean that in the best of ways), and even the warning on the
label (which was only half in jest). Albums like this one were what made buying
physical copies of music from Richard and his associates worth the money and
the experience.
Favorite track: Fantasia
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