Amp
"Amp" CD (Astralwerks)
This may be the first time I've heard a compilation with this much raw talent and artistry which simply fails to move me at all. It's depressing, because I love most of the artists included on here - hell, as a friend of mine laughed last night, I have most of the albums which these songs came from. However, there's still something lacking here. Perhaps it's most simply explained by stating that this comp. seems carefully constructed to present a primer to electronic music, featuring all the right bands and artists - the Chemicals, Fluke, Underworld, FSOL, Photek, Aphex, Orbital, Goldie, the Prodge. It tosses in a few less well-known people - Alec Empire for one, but all tolled, it seems less like an expression of the state of contemporary electronic music (which "Wipeout" summarized very well, thank you) and more like an attempt to market something else to the MTVidiots who'll buy anything they're told is cool. It seems more like an attempt to repackage the most popular tracks and use this as something more accessible to bring people into electronic music. Well, fair enough if it is, but I just don't want much to do with a record which includes a version of Prodigy's "Voodoo People" which the Chemicals thoroughly beat down and destroyed.