10: ROBERT HOOD
OMEGA
(M-PLANT, 2010)
The new album takes the Heston-starring The Omega Man as inspiration, and true to form it’s no mere collection of DJ tools. Each track evokes the grim desolation of the film, and manages to work on the floor as much as the home. ‘Think Fast’ builds electrical impulses against a soft string drone, whilst ‘The Plague (Cleansing Maneuvers)’ is a beatless synth excursion filled with jumpy tension. ‘The Workers of Iniquity’ strips everything down further to an almost Raster-like clipped beat, interrupted with echoed hits. Hood once again manages to walk his unique path with just enough variation to keep it interesting and enough vision and inspiration to move techno, like his erstwhile UR companions Mills and Banks, into a whole new dimension.
Ruaridh Law
Fantastic stuff – a great summary of nearly 20 years of one man's work – really enjoyed the read and the journey through his music.
Hmmm… I agreed until the Klock remix and 'Superman' release were identified as 'Essential'. They're not. If any number of musicians had released them they'd be essential parts of their repertoire but not when you consider Hood's output throughout the years. There are simply much better productions. With those two examples in mind, it's such a relief to hear the latest 'Omega' LP which is thankfully a return to form… as it happens it was already playing through my speakers!
lacking some Floorplant/Drama material
Great artist, retrospective lacking some Floorplan/Drama material imo
Great artist, retrospective lacking some Floorplan/Duet material imo
quality roundup and entertaining read!
I thought I knew my onions as far as Hood went but there's a couple of bits here I'm gonna have to track down and check out now…
What about The Pace? surely his best dancefloor moment. Plus there is so much more great material missed.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
[...] This week on the FACT site we took time to interview enigmatic dream-pop duo jj, gave an early track-by-track verdict of the hugely anticipated debut album from Salem, and presented our guide to the best records of a minimal techno legend in The Essential…Robert Hood. [...]
[...] Point Blank and Wire To Wire. For a more detailed insight into Hood’s discography, check out The Essential..Robert Hood by Ruaridh [...]