• achtergronden
• DE 7EVEN
• video's
• agenda

ernaast

Photek | Solaris

CD, Science/Virgin

Tekst: Bas Ickenroth

Publicatiedatum: 12 oktober 2000

After releasing masterpieces like 'Modus Operandi' and 'Form & Function' in 1997 and 1998, it became silent around jungle/drum'n'bass pioneer Photek. Only sporadically releasing some 12" EPs for the dancefloor, the waiting for a next full-length jungle album became longer and longer, especially since no other jungle artist really succeeded in producing an album that was really convincing for non-DJs - the ordinary human, so to speak. Now the waiting is over, and the man didn't succeed either. For the people who didn't read any music magazines or ezines or whatever lately: This is not a jungle album. Photek (Rupert Parkes) recently said in interviews he saw no more evolution in today's jungle and drum'n'bass and found it too monotone and unnecessarily agressive. And that opinion is - together with the fact that he thinks his old works are too cerebral and technical and therefore almost unlistenable - the reason that 'Solaris' is so much different than his old stuff. This album is a very versatile album full of mid-tempo breakbeats, old-school house, dark, sometimes beatless soundscapes, and a single jungle track. And it even has some vocals on it! Especially the latter aspect is difficult to get used to. In the songs 'Mine To Give' and 'Can't Come Down' the vocals are provided by Robert Owens, a house veteran from Chicago, and his vocals are so sweet that it gives me toothache. And I don't like toothache. Sure, the two tracks have sufficiently typical Photek elements in them, but those vocals make it sound so much different and more accesible than I'm used to from him. Maybe it's just a matter of listening more often to them. Luckily for me (I can imagine many people like the vocals) he sings only on those two tracks. The third song with vocals 'Lost Blue Heaven' was originally written for the soundtrack for the film 'Unter den Palmen' (made by his wife Mirjam Kruishoop), and the vocals from female singer Simone Simone make this track almost sound like triphop. Also, the album's last track 'Under the Palms' was meant for the soundtrack, and the music is indeed perfectly suitable for films: It would also be one of the best tracks on Aphex Twin's 'Selected Ambient Works II', to give a bit of a reference of how it sounds. It provided me with shivers, that's for sure. The breakbeat tracks on this album (e.g. opening track 'Terminus') remind me of a less accesible and more minimalistic Orbital, and I don't mind such comparison at all. The beats are not as detailed and technical as we're used to from Photek, but they still contain so many little fluctuations that one can only be very impressed. In the down-tempo track 'Halogen' Photek proves to be a master in creating a scary yet addictive atmosphere (avant-garde trance?). The title track 'Solaris' is a beautiful melodic house track with a four-to-the-floor beat, but in essence contains the same elements as a track like 'The Hidden Camera', one of the best tracks from 'Modus Operandi'. Very melodic, building layer after layer until you have a beautiful, relaxed-sounding house track with the subtleness only Photek can produce. And those same elements make the only jungle track evenly special. By far the most agressive and direct sounding jungle track he ever made, 'Infinity' is still much more melodic and infinitely more subtle than Bad Company or Ed Rush & Optical. An unexpected approach, this Photek album, and it will take time for me and many others to get used to it, but Rupert Parkes succeeded once again in producing a magnificent album, and with tracks like 'Under the Palms' he shows that his intention of making more film music is a good one (I always thought his musical approach was suitable for film music). And he promised that he still will make some jungle tracks under the name of Photek Productions. Great album. Only too short at 55 minutes.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/photek/solaris/615/
Meer Photek op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/photek